


Synergy

by Kepcat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Creepy, Electricity, Grieving, Horror, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Keith/Lance - Freeform, Kidnapping, Langst, Loss, M/M, Nudity, Obsession, Paranoia, Protective Team, Slow Burn, Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), Thunderstorms, Training Accidents, curse words, klance, supportive team
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-02-12 08:33:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 52,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12955386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kepcat/pseuds/Kepcat
Summary: It was suppose to be training as usual, but a freak electrical storm causes things to go haywire. What is going on with the ship? Where are those strange noises coming from?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the longest fic that I have written yet. I had originally wanted to make it a one shot but it was too long, so instead I am chopping it into sections. This was inspired but the works of hardlynotnever (https://hardlynotnever.tumblr.com/)! Which pieces specifically I won't say as it would give some things away, but give their site a look (WARNING: some images may be NSFW, so you have been warned!). Also a big thanks to my friend Phylix for being my editor and providing the title. 
> 
> Enjoy!

It had been a long week. Battle after battle, chase after chase, it had been draining on all of them in every aspect. The Castle had taken damage and needed time to have repairs be done, not to mention Allura herself needed some time to recharge after opening wormhole after wormhole in order to aid them in their escape from the onslaught of never ending Galra ships. Now here they were, taking refuge on a planet that could only be labeled as a last resort rest stop for the Paladins. Not that it was a dangerous planet, per say, but it wasn’t exactly the sort of spot one would imagine to take a well needed rest:

 

Dark clouds swirled along the planet’s skies, visible from even space as they had popped out of the wormhole, Allura using whatever energy she had stored left to make the decision to hide down amongst the planets stormclouds. They had questioned the safety of the planet at first glance of the swirling storms and lightning, however, as Coran had pointed out, beggars could not be choosers when looking for refuge from danger. So they had descended down into the atmosphere, the ship being swayed to and fro by the sudden bursts of wind that snaked through the stormy sky seas, all of them believing more than once that the ship had struck something when they heard a roar and felt the entire of the castle shake, only to find such rumble came from the strength of the surrounding thunder and nothing more. After what had seemed like eons, the Castle finally had managed to settle onto solid ground, landing anchors latching the large vessel to the earth below it to hold it steady as the wind howled around them, the castle creaking as it shifted.

 

Once satisfied that the ship wasn’t going to give in to the winds and go crashing to the ground, Coran had set about with Hunk and Pidge on getting the ship fixed up while Allura retired to her quarters, Space Mice in tow, for some much needed rest. This left the remaining Paladins to saunter off on their own, each deciding upon their own singular moods of what they would like to do with their rare time off. Keith, being the type to never want to let his guard down, headed off to the training deck to attempt enhancing his swordsmanship with one of the robotic Gladiators while Shiro, not quite able to fully grasp the thought of relaxation, headed up to the main deck of the ship to run statistics and watch the progress of the castle’s repairs; leaving Lance to his lonesome amongst the castle halls.

 

Not that he minded.

 

During his years on Earth Lance had quite enjoyed having solidarity during thunderstorms. The way that the rain fell, smelled even, mixed in with the harmonious roars of thunder as lightning raced across the sky through the clouds had become quite soothing to the Cuban. While no rain fell outside (he wasn’t even sure if this planet had anything close to the droplets that fell on Earth) he could find comfort in the sounds of the storm itself. This led Lance to one the common rooms, shoes discarded and replaced by his blue lion slippers, with a blanket draped over his arm. The Blue Paladin made himself a comfortable little nest on the couch nearest to the window where he could watch the lightning dance outside and better hear the thunder, curled up in his blanket and allowed his mind to just exist.

 

Outside he could hear the wind mixed in with the thunder, watched it swirl the dust and debris outside beyond the ship’s window. Besides the sounds from outside there was nothing else to take his attention. Slowly, blue eyes began to close as he listened to the storm’s symphony. His mind hummed with gentle memories of home, rain, oceans...pushing back the more current thoughts of Lions, Galra and saving the universe.

  


* * *

 

“Hey buddy!”

 

Lance jolted awake with a snort, nearly falling off the couch he had nested on when the large hand fell upon his shoulder.

 

“Shit-!” he rubbed his eyes, looking up at his laughing friend, “Christ’s sake Hunk! Give me a heart attack!”

 

“Sorry about that,” Hunk gave his friend’s shoulder a squeeze, “But we’ve been looking all over the place for you.”

 

“I just sat down,” Lance stretched out, “Ship must not have been damaged too bad, it’s only been like, what? Ten minutes or something since you went off with Coran…”

 

“It’s been 2 hours, Lance,” Pidge pointed out, stealing the blanket off the other’s shoulders to help him wake up.

 

“Damn,” Lance shivered at the sudden burst of cold air that hit him upon the removal of his blanket, “I swear I just closed my eyes five seconds ago!” he jumped to his feet, trying to snatch the blanket back from Pidge, “Gimme that, Gremlin!”

 

Pidge jumped back with smirk, “And have you dozing off on us again? No way!” she chuckled, hopping back again as Lance made another go for the blanket, followed by a heartfelt screech when Lance full on tackled her, “HEY! Hey no fair!!”

 

“Aha!” Lance stole the blanket back, triumphantly wrapping it around his shoulders as he stood back up, laughing as Pidge gave him a shove from behind.

 

“Cheater!”

 

“Not my fault I have a longer reach than you,” Lance stuck out his tongue playfully.

 

“ _Anyway_ …” Hunk shook his head as they began to head out off the room, “The ship wasn’t as damaged as we thought, but it is going to be awhile before we can take off again. Maybe a day or so.”

 

“Hm,” Lance nodded, shuffling along between his two friends, “So...why did you decide to wake me up then?”

 

“Well, when we were down in the lower regions of the Castle I managed to find some really old programs sitting in the ship’s records,” Pidge explained, “Nothing too big: mostly travel logs and space stuff like that, but then I found one of King Alfor’s old programs. Coran seemed to be really excited about it.”

 

“Old program?” Lance arched a brow, “You mean, like his memories or something? I thought those all had to be deleted when the Castle went bonkers on us.”

 

“No idea,” Hunk shrugged, “Before Pidge could translate it, Coran downloaded the file to this crystal thingy he had with him and ran off to find Allura. Pidge and I were just finishing up some of the minor repairs when Allura called for us all to meet her and Coran in the training deck about a half hour ago.”

 

“But we had to find you first,” Hunk stated as the doors to the training deck slid open.

 

“Finally! About time you found him!” came an annoyed voice.

 

“Aw, miss me, mullet?” Lance smirked when he heard Keith let out a disgruntled sigh.

 

“Where was he?” Shiro asked.

 

“Probably asleep somewhere,” Keith mumbled.

 

“Hey now! We beautiful people need our rest, right Allura?” Lance teased, winking at the nearby Altean.

 

Allura smiled, shaking her head, “I believe that’s all of us now,” she looked about the others in the room, “Coran and I have a wonderful surprise for all of you!”

 

“Does the surprise have anything to do with that program I found?” Pidge asked.

 

“It has everything to do with that,” Allura was absolutely beaming, “What you found, Pidge, was one of my Father’s training programs that he created for the Paladins back when they all first joined together!”

 

“Training?” Keith perked up at the word.

 

“Of course that would get your rocks off,” Lance arched a brow at the dark haired boy.

 

“Lance.”

 

“Sorry, Shiro.”

 

Allura laughed again. “Don’t worry, Lance. My Father didn’t create this training program as a way to work. Rather, he created it as a fun bonding exercise for the Paladins to take part in, in order to better get to know one another and understand their differences.”

 

“So it’s not training then?” Keith asked, arms crossing over his chest.

 

“Well, it is and it isn’t. It’s a rather unique concept, one my Father developed long ago during the prime years of the Paladins,” Allura spoke proudly as she walked over to the control panel where Coran was waiting, the crystal containing the program in her hand, “Training against one another is quite beneficial for all of you, but sparing one on one sometimes can lack the educational value of truly getting to know your opponent in a large group setting to see how they think and act. With this program, one of you will be able to train against the others all at the same time.”

 

“Really?” Keith arched a brow as the training room lights flickered a little, thunder rumbling outside, “I thought sparring one on one was the best way to get to know your opponents moves. Get in close and personal.”

 

“Well, it can be, but in a large group such as ours is, training one on one can take time. As Paladins it is always best to learn in a group setting.”

 

“Every time we had a group setting at my school I was always the one who ended up doing all the work,” Pidge remarked, adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

 

“I can assure you that won’t happen in this case, Pidge,” Allura smiled, inserting the crystal into the control panel to upload the program, “It will take a few ticks for the program to fully load into the systems, but once it does, Coran has happily agreed to give you all a demonstration of how it works.”

 

“Right-o, Princess,” Coran twirled the edge of his mustache with his gloved fingers, “And you Paladins are going be given a run for your gact once I get going. I was quite the sparring partner in my day! One of King Alfor’s finest!”

 

“I still don’t fully understand how this will work though,” Shiro admitted, glancing at the control panel when it made a noise and pushed the crystal back out, indicating that it had completed the download, “How does it actually work?”

 

“Yeah, you said it would let one of us go up against the others all at the same time but so far I don’t see how that will work. There’s only one of Coran…”  Lance pointed out.

 

“That, my dear boy, is where our Gladiators come in!” Coran smirked, “Allura, the mind link if you would be so kind.”

 

“Of course,” Allura nodded, handing over the headgear to Coran. The Paladins recognized it as being the same type of headgear that they had been asked to wear during their earlier days of training when they were still trying to bond well enough to form Voltron, “You see, Coran places the headgear on, which links his thoughts into the training room computer system,” Allura went on to explain as Coran dawned the electronic upon his brow, “From the moment it syncs up with him, Coran will be in complete control of the simulation: from how many Gladiators will be needed to participate to every movement that they make, and all the while all Coran will have to do is stay where he is and react with his thoughts.”

 

“Oh! So it’s like Rock ‘em Sock ‘em robots!” Hunk grinned, “Man I loved that game as a kid!”

 

“Rock ‘em...what?”Allura blinked.

 

“It was an old toy from back on Earth,” Hunk told her, watching as one by one five Gladiators emerged from their storage beneath the training room floors, “There were these little plastic robots in a fighting arena, and two people controlled their movements. This reminds me of that.”

 

“I suppose you could see it that way,” Allura nodded.

 

“Right then!” Coran adjusted his headgear a bit, making sure that it was set properly on his brow before pointing out at the group of Paladins, “Best be on your guards, lads! I’m ready to give you a grand work out!!”

 

The headgear turned on, syncing in with the ship’s system. The Gladiators began to move as Coran’s thoughts slowly brought them to life, the clear glass eye on the front of their faceplates turning a bright orange to match the color of Coran’s hair. Pidge laughed at that, moving over to one of the Gladiators to get a closer look.

 

“So will our thoughts be color coordinated?” she asked excitedly, standing on the tip of her toes to tap at the orange bulb.

 

“Indeed. Normally it will match the favorite color of the person wearing the headgear,” Coran advised, “But when one of you Paladins put it on it has been programmed to match your quintessence, so the color of your Lions will show,” he straightened up suddenly, standing to attention, “Now then! As the saying goes on your planet, put up your dukes!”

 

Pidge yelped as the Gladiator before her sprung to life, shifting its stance, arms raised with fists out as though it was ready to box.

 

“Whoa whoa!” Shiro rushed forward, “This is amazing and all, but maybe we should be better prepared before we get all this started?” he looked over to Coran, “Have some safety precautions...like our armor perhaps?”

 

“Hm? Oh yes. Right right,” Coran nodded, removing the headgear; the Gladiators glowing orange bulbs fading to black as they slumped where they stood, “Good point, number one.”

 

Shiro let out a small sigh of relief, “All right then guys!” he turned to face the others, “Suit up and meet back in here in 15!”

 

Coran watched the group disperse, murmurs of excitement at the concept of using the program to train coming from the young Paladins as they headed out, the Princess in tow providing a quick lecture to them on how they would need to take it seriously and not goof around. All of them, Coran noted, but one.

 

“Lance?” the advisor took notice of the lanky armed youth standing before the slumped over Gladiator, blanket now draped over his shoulder, a grim look on his face, “Lance, my boy, why haven’t you gone off with the others to change?” he sat the headgear down onto the control panel before walking over to him.

 

“I...think I might sit this training course out, Coran,” Lance stated softly, never taking his eyes from the robot in front of him.

 

“Are you ill, lad?” Coran reached out to place a hand to the others cheek to check for signs of a fever, blinking when Lance moved away, “If you’re worried that the program isn’t safe I can assure you that it is perfectly safe to be used on earthlings.”

 

“No...no, I’m fine,” Lance smiled a little, shaking his head, “And if you say the program is safe I trust you all the way, Coran. I just...this exercise is supposed to be about showcasing our fighting skills to the others on the team, right?”

 

“Well...yes,” Coran nodded.

 

“...I don’t have any of those….” Lance looked down a moment, “...I mean...I can shoot and fly Blue, but that’s about it. Put me in hand to hand against anyone and...I just…..” he shook his head, blue eyes finally looking to Coran, “I’m not as as good as the others.”

 

“Well of course you’re not!” Coran exclaimed. He placed his hands upon Lance’s shoulder, turning the boy to face him, “And do you know why that is, lad?”

 

Lance frowned. That….hadn’t been the response he had thought he would get from the Altean when he let his feelings be known. Taking a breath, Lance shook his head.

 

“Because I’m a horrible Paladin who doesn’t deserve to be on this team?” he mumbled out, eyes downcast.

 

“No, my boy,” Coran gave Lance’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, enough to have the other look back up at him, “No. You’re only not as good as the others because you think you aren’t as good, when you are _better_. I have seen you in the field, Lance. You are every bit a Paladin as the others and those that came before you. And I have seen a few Paladins in my day,” he smiled softly, “You have great potential, Lance. Everyone knows it.”

 

“Really?” Lance’s lips cured into a smile, eyes brightening, “You really think that, Coran?”

 

“I know it!” the mustached Altean gave Lance a hearty clap on the back, “Now go and get changed! I can’t wait to see what you bring to the table during this exercise my boy!”

 

Lance nodded, esteem rebuilt from Coran’s words, “Right! I won’t let you down!”

 

Coran chuckled, watching the earthling scamper out of the room towards where the armor was kept.

 

“He’s a good lad, that Lance,” Coran spoke to the mice as he moved back over to the control panel, “Just needs a good nudge in the right direction...just like Alfor gave me….”

 

* * *

 

Whatever hopes Allura had for a serious training session were quickly lost.

 

Things went off without a hitch at first, what with Shiro being the first one to volunteer to go ahead of his teammates after Coran’s few rounds of boxing Gladiators set the tone for what was to be expected for the Paladins. Shiro’s run had been smooth and precise, no surprise coming from the reigning (ex) champion of the Galra arenas. The exercise had left the Paladins catching their breath as Shiro removed his headgear, handing it over to the next candidate: Keith.

 

Ah, Keith. The Red Paladin’s turn was chaotic, with the Gladiators each dawning a sword and charging forward the moment the headgear barely touched the young man’s skull. After outcries from his companions (mostly Lance) about not wanting to be skewered by robotic foes, Keith had managed to gain control over the device, causing the Gladiators to calm and take a more step-by-step approach with their swordsman techniques.

 

The exercise really began to fall apart when it became Pidge’s turn. While, on the outside, Pidge wanted to follow the rules for the sparing course and give the boys a run for their money, the green paladin’s curiosity and excitement about how the program fully functioned took over from her subconscious mind, causing the Gladiators to strike out at the others with precise, deadly force one moment, then turn to one another and begin examining their own robotic body parts the next. Many times this allowed Hunk to let out a war cry (in pure fun) and tackle down one of the robots, which only lead to the others joining in until there was one large, laughing dogpile of human and AI.

 

By the time Hunk’s turn came about, Allura had given up all thoughts of anything ever being taken seriously with this team again. The yellow warrior had donned the headgear, immediately causing all of the Gladiators to flex and walk about as though they were parading for a wrestling match. Hunk himself had decided to be an announcer.

 

“Paladins of Voltron, are you ready to rumble?!” he called out, pointing a finger towards his friends.

 

“Bring it!” Lance whooped.

 

“We can take on anything you have to throw at us!!” Pidge taunted, whapping her fist into her open palm.

 

“Then let’s get this party going!!” Hunk howled out, making an impression of a bell ringing as two Gladiators surged forward in the makeshift ring of the training floor.

 

“Come on, Samurai, you and me!” Lance grinned at Keith, who nodded in agreement as they both surged forward to fight them, two on two.

 

“That’s it. I’m done,” Allura gave a heavy sigh as she watched the mock wrestling in front of her: Hunk was narrating every move while Pidge and Shiro cheered on from the sidelines, ready to be tapped in, “They’ve made a mockery of my Father’s program!”

 

“Oh I wouldn’t say that, Princess,” Coran stood beside her, hands clasped behind his back and a smile on his face, “Your Father created this program as a way for the Paladins to bond, and I would say they are bonding quite well.”

 

“You think?” Allura took another look to the group of earthlings before her. Lance and Keith were side by side, fighting back their robotic rivals, “I do suppose I haven’t seen Lance and Keith get along this well in awhile…” a soft smile graced her lips, “Mm...perhaps you are correct, Coran.”

 

“Of course I am,” Coran smirked, twirling his mustache between his fingers some.

 

Allura chuckled, nudging Coran in the arm, “Don’t get a large head,” she warned, blinking when the lights dimmed again above them, “They have been doing that a lot tonight. Perhaps I should head to the bridge and make sure the particle barrier is running properly.”

 

“I can do that. You stay here and enjoy the show,” Coran told her, “Maybe when you’ve rested up a bit you could give it a shot, eh?”

 

“Hmm...I don’t think they’re quite ready to face this kind of sheer power!” Allura chuckled, flexing her arm for Coran.

 

Coran laughed, shaking his head as the lights flickered again, “I’ll be back in a few dobashes. It’s probably just the electrical storm outside reacting against the barrier. Nothing a few tweaks here and there can’t fix up.”

 

“Call me if you need any help!” Allura called to him before looking back to the session before her.

 

Keith and Lance had taken down one of the two Gladiators that had come at them, working at the remaining one when two more surged in. Hunk made it sound like some drastic plot twist had occurred as one of the attacking AI lunged, pinning Keith to the ground. Lance had turned, tagging in both Shiro and Pidge, who stormed onto the floor with arm and bayard aglow. Allura couldn’t help but begin to cheer from the sidelines, finally beginning to relax and enjoy the show.

 

Once the wrestling match had completed, Hunk took off the gear, scratching his itching head.

 

“That thing kind of tingles,” he admitted, walking over to his friends, “So are we done for the night then?”

 

“I still have to go,” Lance piped up, moving over to Hunk to take the headgear, “Well, unless everyone’s too tired for another round?” he glanced back at his friends.

 

“Mm…” Shiro rolled his shoulder a bit, “I don’t see the harm in one more go. It’s been really interesting so far.”

 

“Yeah. Besides,” Keith threw a teasing smirk at Lance, “What’s he going to do? Flirt us to death?”

 

Lance gave a faux shocked expression, hand over his heart, “Goodness me, the mullet figured out my plan!” he rolled his eyes, “Well now I’ll just have to flirt with everyone but _you_ , emo boy,” he stuck his tongue out at him.

 

Allura half expected Keith to scoff or to come back with another witty remark that would send the two off into a scuffle, but was relieved when she heard Keith laugh.

 

“Fine then! I know your ways. No way you’re beating me in this round,” Keith grinned.

 

“We’ll see,” Lance returned the smirk, running a hand through his hair before he placed the headgear upon his brow, the Gladiators once again straightening their stance, baubles turning a light blue.

 

Pidge readied her bayard, “What exactly do you have planned?” she asked, nearly bouncing in her spot with anticipation.

 

“Don’t worry, Gremlin, I’ve got a plan,” Lance winked, giving his signature finger guns to the green paladin.

 

Pidge gave a wide grin as the Gladiators began to move into position, each one facing one of the other paladins.

 

“Get ready!” Lance smirked, “Because here I-!”

 

A thunderous roar from the outside shook the castle, larger than any before, cutting off Lance’s words as thunder rumbled through their ears. An earsplitting crack accompanied the thunder causing the castle to shiver once again, quick pops and flashes of electricity shooting from panels in the walls and through the air.

 

“What’s going on?!” Hunk shouted through the darkness, leaping back as the Gladiator which had been before him began to twitch, swiping out at him, the glowing bauble on its faceplate flashing with colors. “Holy shit!”

 

“The storm from outside must have hit the ship directly! The electrical system is fritzing out!” Pidge called back to Hunk, moving away before her own Gladiator could begin to twitch out on her like the others were doing.

 

“Try not to touch anything that might be connected to the ship’s electrical system!” Shiro’s arm lit up, trying to light up as much space as possible. He heard thud after thud as the Gladiators hit the floor, watching their bodies spark, illuminating them as though their twitching bodies were stuck in a strobe light, “Princess are you alright?!” he called, knowing Allura had been close to the control panel.

 

“The mice and I are ok!”Allura called back, sighing in relief as the sparks finally subsided, the lights flickering back on to life, “Thank goodness...Coran must have been able to get things back up again….” she looked to the control panel where she had once stood, frowning as smoke ribboned its way from the machine, “Oh dear.”

 

“Well that was a wild ride,” Keith shook his head, moving over to Hunk who was kicking at one of the downed Gladiators, “I guess training is done for the night then.”

 

“Yeah,” Hunk gave the Gladiator another kick to ensure that it wouldn’t start moving again, “Did you see these things tweak out? That was freaky!” he shivered, “That’s something I really don’t want to see again.”

 

“Sort of reminds me when the castle went crazy awhile back and one of the Gladiators tried to murder me,” Keith shook his head, “Remember that, Lance? I had to deal with you screaming at me from the airlock while I was trying to dodge that thing’s attack,” he looked over to where the blue paladin had been standing, “...Lance?”

 

Lance gave no reply. He was still in his same spot, albeit his legs were slightly bent, arms hanging heavily at his sides with twitching fingers. His eyes were half lidded, staring at - no through - Keith who was looking at him. The mind melding headgear he still wore was sparking, tiny wisps of smoke coming from the parts that were pressed up against his temples. He inhaled a shaking breath before his knees gave out and he fell.

 

“LANCE!!” Keith had never moved so fast in his life. Sliding to his knees mid-run, Keith managed to catch the blue paladin in his arms before the other hit the floor, eyes wide as he looked him over.

 

“Shit shit shit!” Hunk was at his side in seconds, as were the others, “What happened?!”

 

“Lance,” how Shiro managed to stay calm as he knelt down to lightly touch the paladin’s cheek was a surprise to even himself, “Lance can you hear me? Look at me Lance….”

 

The Cuban mumbled something incoherent, eyes dark and half lidded still. He winced as another spark came from the headgear.

 

“Get that off him!” Keith hissed out.

 

“Easy...I got it….” Pidge carefully removed the sparking headgear from Lance’s temples, promptly chucking the thing aside before going back to check for any damage.

 

“Is he hurt?” Allura hovered over the group, a worried and anxious expression upon her face.

 

“He has some burn marks here...and here….” Pidge pointed out the darkened spots along Lance’s temples, “When the castle wigged out the electricity must have jumped to anything it could. He’s pretty singed, but I don’t know if there’s any permanent damage or not.”  

 

“Lance? Bro?” Hunk whimpered, waving his hand in front of his friend’s eyes, frowning when his only response was a slow blink from the other, “I think he’s awake but he’s not very responsive.”

 

“We need to get him to a healing pod right away!” Allura stated, looking to the doors as they hissed open, “Coran!”

 

“Sorry about the slight outage. The particle barrier slipped for just a moment and-” Coran’s steady walk turned into a dash as he saw the group, “What happened?”

 

“We’ll tell you on the way. Right now we must get Lance to one of the pods!” Allura told him, frowning when she saw the other pale, “What is it?”

 

“The pods aren’t running right now,” Coran reported, “When the power went out it knocked out some of the castle’s main functions. I managed to keep the particle barrier up in case another wave came like the one before, but as of right now the entire ship is rebooting.”

 

“How long until a pod will be ready?” Shiro got to his feet.

 

“I’m not sure,” Coran admitted, shaking his head, “Could be vargas, could be longer.”

 

“We have an infirmary though!” Allura suddenly remembered, “It may not be the pod, but it would at least allow us to get Lance the medical treatment he needs until they are up and running again.”

 

“Ok,” Shiro nodded, voice still calm, but his body was tense with nerves, “Keith, give Lance over to Hunk, he should be able to carry him easier,” he turned back to Allura, “Where’s the infirmary?”

 

“Just down the hall a bit,” Allura advised, “It hasn’t been used in quite some time but we should have what we need to tend to him.”

 

“Easy…” Keith carefully handed Lance over to Hunk before getting to his feet.

 

“Don’t worry, buddy, I’ve got you,” Hunk frowned as Lance made a small noise when the other shifted him in his arms, “Allura,” he turned his attention to her worry heavy in his voice, “Lead the way.”

 

Leaving the Gladiators where they lied in heaps on the floor, the group quickly followed the two Alteans out the door and down the halls to where the infirmary was located.

 

Allura had been right when she said that the infirmary had not been used for awhile. Dust covered nearly every corner, the lights barely flickering on as the door to the room opened with a hiss. The beds were all lined against the walls on each side in nice rows, small panels next to each bedside. Coran rushed to the nearest one, punching a few things into the keys of one panel before waving the others over as a screen came to life before him.

 

“This bed still seems to have most of its parts functioning,” he stated, watching as Hunk gently placed Lance down onto the the bed atop the covers, “We can get a quick scan here, see what damage has been done.”

 

“Hopefully not a lot,” Hunk helped to sit Lance upright as Pidge brought over an extra pillow, sliding it behind the auburn haired boy’s head, “Is it safe, you think, to do a scan with that storm still going on? He’s already been shocked once…”

 

“We don’t have to put anything on him to get the scan,” Coran assured him, “We need to see how serious the situation is.”

 

Hunk frowned but finally nodded, taking a step back from his best friend to allow Coran room to perform the scan. All of them waited in silence as Coran typed in the instructions, the bed beneath the blue paladin giving off a glow, the light moving as though he was lying atop a scanner before dying away, the screen beside the bed processing the information it had just taken. Allura moved over beside Coran as the readings began to pop up on the bedside screen, taking in the information.

 

“Well?” Keith interjected, the silence becoming too much for him to handle, “What does it say?”

 

“There doesn’t seem to be any permanent damage, thank goodness,” Allura gave a sigh of relief as she continued to look over the readout on screen, “He took a big shock, but his armor took most of the blow away from his body. He was very lucky.”

 

“What about his brain?” Shiro asked. It sounded odd asking it in that way, but they had to know. Head injuries were a serious business, “He has singe marks on his temples. Did that affect him at all?”

 

“Surprisingly...no,” Coran blinked, scanning over the information after it had fully processed, “He got a shock to the noggin, but there’s no damage there. The shock was enough to leave him a bit loopy for a while though...seems the headgear he was wearing took the brunt just like his armor did. He’s one lucky paladin!”

 

Relief seemed to wash through the room and over the group. Lance would be ok. Pidge moved over Lance’s bedside, gently taking his chin in her armored hand to tilt his head a little.

 

“Damage or no, we should get these burns treated,” she looked over at Coran and Allura, “You said this place had stuff we could use?”

 

“Oh, yes!” Allura nodded, moving past the others with speed to a nearby supply closet. She opened it, rambling about a bit in it before coming back with an armful of bandages and salves, “There’s more in the supply bin if we need it.”

 

“Set them down there,” Pidge pointed to the small table on the other side of the bed, “Hunk help me keep him still while I get those burns treated. I used to have to patch Matt up all the time when he burned himself on things…”

 

Hunk nodded, moving back over to do as he was told, Keith hovering over his shoulder nearby. Shiro took a deep breath of relief, placing a hand on Coran’s shoulder as he looked at the screen, trying to decipher what it might be saying. Everything was green on screen. Green was a good color, right?

 

“Even though the scans say he’s all right, I still think we should get him in a pod as soon as one is working,” Coran told the paladin leader, “Just to be on the safe side.”

 

“I agree,” Shiro nodded, “Until then we can take shifts staying with him. Scans or not, this isn’t something we should just overlook. Do you think he’ll wake up soon?”

 

“Mm...the lad’s pretty dazed right now as it is,” Coran looked over to the bed where Pidge was finishing applying the salve and bandages about Lance’s temples, “We’ll have to let him rest and see what happens.”

 

“I can take first shift,” Keith piped up, overhearing the conversation between the two of them, “...with the training room rebooting I don’t have anything better to do anyway….”

 

“Glad to see you’re concerned,” Shiro shook his head, smiling as Keith looked away with a shrug, “Ok, team - that’s our game plan for now,” he turned to face the group, “Once Pidge is done, Hunk can give me a hand in getting Lance out of his armor. We’ll make sure that he’s comfortable and we’ll take shifts to watch him until he wakes up, or a pod becomes available.”

 

They nodded in agreement, all of them jumping slightly as more thunder rumbled from the outside, Pidge instinctively wrapping her arms around Lance as though she was afraid another bolt of lightning would jump out of the air and strike him.

 

“With any luck, the ship will finish rebooting and we can get off this planet and get back out into space,” Shiro sighed, “Until then, all we can do is wait.”

 

* * *

 

One would think Lance was made of glass with how long it took Shiro and Hunk to slip the other out of his armor. Hunk had just been so worried that any incorrect movement would cause Lance to be in more pain than he had already gone through. Shiro, being just as concerned but able to hide it much better than the yellow paladin, had made no attempt to rush his friend though instead had gone along with his gentleness, both of them finally managing to remove the blue armor from Lance’s body to leave him in his back undersuit. They had debated on whether or not to remove the undersuit as well, thinking it may be more comfortable for Lance to be in his pajamas, then decided against removing it. Once the pod was ready it would be easier to remove the undersuit and trade it out with the medical suit required by the pod, and so they had left the dark undersuit on him, carefully tucking him in under the covers before picking up the discarded armor from the floor.

 

“Now all we have to do is let him rest,” Shiro tucked the breastplate of blue armor under one arm, “Come on, Hunk. Let’s go put the armor back where it belongs.”

 

“And you _promise_ that you’ll call me if anything happens, right?” Hunk hoisted the boots and gauntlets into his arms.

 

“I promise,” Keith straightened up from where he had been leaning against the wall, already changed out of his red armor. He would have helped with removing Lance’s armor, but had decided that two mother hens were enough to do the job and a third was not required, “You know, you can stay if you like. Just because we’re taking shifts doesn’t mean you can’t stay,” he found a nearby chair, pulling it up beside Lance’s bedside.

 

“I know,” Hunk nodded, looking to his friend, “But I need to get some food made. When he wakes up he’ll be hungry and I want to make sure he has something that he likes to eat.”

 

“I’m sure we’ll all be back to check up on him,” Shiro assured Hunk, giving the other’s shoulder a squeeze, “Keith will keep a good eye on him until we get back.”

 

“Go on,” Keith leaned back in his chair, giving them a wave to go, “I promise I will let you know if he even twitches strangely.”

 

“Mmm….ok,” Hunk nodded, taking a deep breath, “I’ll be right back, Buddy.”

 

Keith watched as Shiro and Hunk headed out, Lance’s armor in tow, the infirmary doors hissing shut behind them once they had stepped out into the halls. He sighed, scratching the back of his neck a moment before looking over to Lance passed out in the bed. Every now and then a soft glow would come from under the covers where the medical bed would take a quick vital sign, the Altean reports of Lance’s state flashing up on the screen beside him. Keith of course couldn’t read the vitals, though Coran had insisted that as long as the screen was green, everything was good. If it ever became any other color they were to call for him or Allura immediately.

 

Letting out a sigh, Keith leaned back further in his chair, taking out his knife to begin polishing it. The act of taking care of his knife had become a nervous habit, one that he found himself doing quite a bit as of late. First Shiro had disappeared on him, then everything with the Galra and Voltron and now…

 

Keith’s hands paused a moment, eyes glancing up from the metal of his blade to where Lance was laid out in the bed not too far away. Now….now there was a teammate, a friend, lying before him hurt and there was nothing that he could do but sit. Sit and polish. He took a deep breath, averting his eyes to continue on with his work.

 

He was there for Lance, and that was what mattered.

 

Time passed. Minutes, then an hour or so went ticking by. Exactly how much time had passed, Keith wasn’t sure. He had kept himself busy with his knife, only looking up when the medical equipment beeped with a reading. With a heavy sigh, Keith held up his blade to the light examining it. It shimmered brighter than it had in awhile, which brought Keith to the realization that perhaps he had polished it a little too much lately, when the new sound of shifting bedsheets caught his attention.

 

“S’that how you’re finally gonna bump me off, samurai?” came the raspy quip from the bed.

 

Keith nearly dropped his knife when he heard it, sheathing the blade quickly as he jumped from his chair and was at his teammate’s bedside, “Lance! You’re awake!” he grinned.

 

“Not so loud,” Lance groaned, squinting his eyes in the light. Keith’s grin faded a little at the sight of Lance’s dilated eyes, “Head hurts….”

 

“Yeah. Yeah it probably does,” Keith lowered his voice to a calmer tone as he helped Lance to a sitting position against the pillows, “Do you remember anything?”

 

Lance blinked slowly, looking at Keith as he rested back against the headboard of the medical bed. It was as if he hadn’t quite heard what the red paladin had asked, his mind slowly computing until he finally nodded in recognition.

 

“Kinda?” he inhaled a breath, swallowing to try and remedy his dry mouth, “I…’member bein’ in the training room an’....stuff….” came the mumbled response.

 

Keith moved to the other side table near the bed, pouring a glass of water from a pitcher that had been left there. He moved close to Lance, easing the other’s head back gently as he brought the glass to his lips, “Here. Have a drink. Can you hold the glass?”

 

Lance’s lips parted, taking in a quick drink before his hand reached up, twitching fingers (something Keith saw and did not like at all) managing to grasp the glass loosely.

 

“Feel tingly…” Lance said after a second swallow of water.

 

Keith did not let go of the glass. He could tell that Lance didn’t have the mechanics right now to fully grip the glass as he should.

 

“Tingly? Ok. Ok…” Keith nodded, letting Lance drink as much water as he liked before pulling the glass away to set it on the table. “Just take it easy, Lance. You got hurt pretty bad in the training room. You’re in the infirmary until we can get a pod working.”

 

“Mmm….kay….” Lance nodded, blinking slowly (too slowly for Keith’s liking), “Are you my sexy nurse?” he grinned crookedly at the flush that went across Keith’s face, laughing hoarsely, “Ha ha….! I turned the red paladin red….”

 

Keith frowned. Even with a fried brain Lance was a goofball. He sighed and helped him to get comfortable, “Ha ha. Funny,” he shook his head, “Besides feeling ‘tingly’ how else do you feel?” he asked, “...Does it hurt anywhere else besides your head? Are you numb at all?”

 

Lance thought a moment, eyes half lidded as he stared up at the ceiling. He was quiet for so long that Keith was afraid he had passed out again before Lance finally gave a quiet, “No.”

 

“...all right…” Keith ran a hand through his hair, scratching his head as he straightened up, “Just rest up here a moment. I need to tell the others that you’re awake.”

 

Lance gave a tired nod, head still tilted back enough that he could look up. Keith wondered if he was seeing stars with the way that he was staring up at the ceiling (Lance was still the only one out of all of them that had never gotten sick of looking out at the stars). Keith walked away from the bed to the door where the comm was located. He pressed the button that would connect him to the kitchen first, figuring that Hunk would still be there.

 

“Hello? Hunk?” He spoke into the speaker, “Anyone?” he waited for a response, frowning when none came. He pressed the button again, this time for the bridge, “Coran? Allura?” again nothing. Shit. Was the com system rebooting too? What hadn’t the damn electrical storm short circuited? Keith pressed another button, then another, going through each one in the hopes that someone, anyone (even the squeaks of the mice!) would respond to him.

 

Much to his dismay, though, no one replied.

 

“Well fuck,” Keith grumbled.

 

“Laaanguaaage….” Lance’s voice mumbled from the bed.

 

Keith smirked a little, walking back to the Cuban’s bedside. Lance wasn’t staring at the ceiling anymore, hopefully a good sign, but he was leaning back with his eyes closed now.

 

“The comms are down. Probably from the storm,” Keith told him, hoping Lance could comprehend in his current state, “I’m going to step out really quick to find someone, then I will be right back, ok?”

 

“Mkay….” Lance seemed to be dozing off.

 

“Hey….hey….” Keith placed his hands on Lance’s shoulders, giving him a gentle squeeze. Blue eyes opened enough to look at him, “Can you stay awake for me?” he asked, “Try...I know you must be tired, but the others would really like to see you awake.”

 

Lance’s lip twitched a little, the corners finally tugging into a smile, “Ok.”

 

“Good,” Keith nodded with a soft smile, giving Lance’s shoulder one more good squeeze, “Keep those eyes open. I will be right back.”

 

Wanting to be quick, Keith jogged out of the room, taking one last glance back at Lance before the doors to the infirmary slid shut. He didn’t like the thought of leaving the other alone for too long, not after he had seen the glazed over look in Lance’s eyes. Taking a chance, he stopped at the nearest comm that he came to about halfway down the hallway, pressing the button to see if it would work before he ventured any farther away than needed. To his relief, the comm buzzed to life, Hunk’s startled voice answering him.

 

“Keith? Keith what is it? Is it Lance? Is he hurt?!”

 

“No. No he’s fine,” Keith breathed a sigh of relief at hearing his friend’s voice, “He’s awake, actually-”

 

“Awake?! For how long?!” the worry in Hunk’s voice seemed to vanish.

 

“About 10 minutes I think? I would have told you sooner but the comm in the infirmary is shot and-”

 

“Wait, you’re not in there with him?” that was Shiro. He must have gone into the kitchen to check up on Hunk at some point.

 

“No,” Keith was getting a little annoyed at the interruptions, “Like I said, the comm in the infirmary is down. I had to go out into the hall to find a working one and-” he spoke up as the other two tried to speak over him again, “-AND I am heading back there now that you know he’s awake.”

 

“Ok, ok” Hunk came back onto the line, “We’ll let Allura and the others know. We’ll be right down there!”

 

“Right. Over,” Keith removed his finger from the button, turning to jog back down the hall towards the infirmary door.

 

The _open_ infirmary door, Keith realized as he grew closer, feet bursting into an all out run when he saw shadows cascading from the light of the open doorway, a blaring whooping noise coming from the machine that had been monitoring the blue paladin’s vital signs.

 

“Lance?!” Keith had to grab onto the doorframe, nearly skidding by the doorway he was moving so fast. He moved into the room, over to Lance who was trying to push himself up off the floor, the mattress of the bed crooked and hanging partially off the bed frame as if someone had flipped it to get the paladin out of the bed. “Lance are you ok?” Keith was kneeling beside him in an instant helping him to his feet. He looked around, swearing that he heard something moving in the vents above him… “Lance, answer me…!”

 

“I’m ok,” came the quiet voice, Lance’s weight leaning heavily against Keith’s, “Jus’ fell out of bed…”

 

“Lance, what happened?” Keith moved him over to the opposite bed, helping him to sit before looking him over for any new injuries, “I thought I saw other people in here with you.”

 

Lance blinked slowly as he looked at Keith, fingers twitching again, eyes so glassed over Keith wasn’t completely sure if Lance was really looking at him or not. Eventually he shook his head, “No...no one else here….jus’....jus’ me….” his brows furrowed, “I think….”

 

“You think?” Keith arched a brow, looking up when he heard footsteps coming in.

 

“What in the good name of King Alfor happened in here?” Coran asked, referring to the tipped over medical bed mattress, “We could hear the alarm from the scanner all the way down the hall!” he ran over to the machine, typing in a few commands to get it to quiet down.

 

“I don’t know,” Keith moved over when Hunk, tray of what he assumed was some kind of soup and bread fashioned from the food goo in hand, made his way beside him to check on his friend, “I was only out of the room for a few minutes. When I came back the place was like this and Lance was on the floor,” then added quickly when Hunk looked to him, “He’s ok.”

 

“Heeeeey Hunkster,” Lance gave a small smile and a tiny wave to his Samoan buddy now kneeling before him.

 

“Lance I’m so glad to see you awake!” Hunk sat the tray aside for now, “How do you feel, buddy?”

 

His answer came in the form of a hug, Lance leaning heavily into the yellow paladin, “Yer warm and squishy…” Lance mumbled out.

 

“Ooookay….” Hunk’s eyebrows lifted, patting his friend on the back as he looked back up at Keith, “Is he all there?”

 

Keith chuckled a little, crossing his arms, “As I said, he was ok when I came back in, but this-” he motioned to Lance cuddling up to Hunk, “He’s been like this since he woke up; unfocused, out of it.”

 

“That’s not a good sign,” Allura moved over to the read out with Coran as Pidge and Shiro righted the bed that had been flipped. She spoke with Coran a moment, going back through the information from the time that they had first put the blue paladin into the bed until present timing, “Nothing seems to be off in his readouts.”

 

“Well, like you said before, Coran. He took a bump to the old noggin, right? That would make anyone loopy,” Hunk stated, helping lance to detach himself and sit upright, “You hungry, Lance? I brought you something to eat…”

 

Lance blinked a few times but nodded, allowing Hunk to help him in getting situated where he would be able to eat. While Hunk tended to his friend, Keith moved over to Shiro to have a quick talk with him.

 

“You didn’t see or hear anything in the halls when you were on your way down here, did you?” he asked him.

 

Shiro shook his head, “The only noise we heard was the alarm from the vital scanner in here.”

 

“I swear that when I was on my way back in here I saw shadows coming from the room, like someone else was in here with Lance, but they vanished once I got to the doorway,” Keith told him, glancing back a moment at the others, “And when I was helping him up, it sounded like there was something skittering up above me through the vents.”

 

“Hm,” Shiro shifted his stance a little, crossing his arm over his chest as he thought, “I was with Hunk when you called down to the kitchen,” he told him, “We met up with Coran, Allura and Pidge on our way down here. Could the scurrying have been the mice?”

 

“Maybe?” Keith’s fingers fiddled with the hilt of his sheathed dagger, “But if it was the mice, Platt needs to go on a diet because whatever I heard moving around up there sounded _big_.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

The wonderful thing about Shiro was that he always listened, taking into consideration any worry or concern that his team may have had no matter how absurd it may have sounded. Keith was grateful for this, as he was sure him voicing his opinion about shadow monsters that could vanish without a trace and creatures skittering about in the ship’s vents was certainly qualified to win conspiracy theory of the year. If it had been anyone else, he may have kept his mouth shut about what he had witnessed, but not with Shiro. After everything he had been through, Shiro never doubted anything anymore. So it came to be that another plan was put into action. 

 

Since the medical pods were still rebooting and none were available, they would continue to take shifts with Lance in the infirmary. He was never to be left alone in fear of head trauma (or shadow monsters) may overtake him in his current state. In turn, no one in the castle was to remain by themselves: they would stay in pairs and keep communications open with hand-held comms. This way, in case anything else strange happened, and it had been a very strange and stressful day, they could at least be somewhat prepared for what may come. The team agreed to the new plan without any fuss, though there was some slight disbelief amongst them when Shiro told them what Keith had seen (disbelief that Shiro quickly shot down, reminding them that anything could happen out in space).

 

Allura and Coran returned the bridge of the ship to try and help along the rebooting process of the medical pods. While they assured everyone that Lance’s vital signs and scans were normal, it still perturbed them at how oddly the blue paladin was acting. They wanted only the best for their friends/paladins and so had gone off together to the bridge of the ship to hopefully get at least one of the pods working so that they could fully help to heal him. They had also agreed to run a scan on the ship to be sure that nothing had gotten in from the outside planet that shouldn’t have been there. Pidge had briefly scuttled off to her room, returning minutes later with her laptop, blankets and extra pillows in tow; she had even stopped by Lance’s room to bring her companion his favorite pillow to rest his head on, while Hunk had busied himself in cleaning off a few more beds in the infirmary, knowing very well that he would not be leaving his best friend to sleep alone in the strange place, making sure to chat with Lance as much as he could to try and see how well his friend’s responses came. 

 

Lance watched with hazy eyes as Hunk and Pidge went about their work, Pidge now making a rather thrown together nest in the bed beside Lance, his long fingers twitching still. Keith saw the twitch, his own fingers tapping along the sheath of his dagger. There was just something...off...about that but he couldn’t figure out what.  

 

“You two seem to have everything under control here it seems,” Shiro stood from where he had been seated beside Lance, “Keith and I are going to head back to the training room, see if we can’t assess the damage in there.” 

 

“Yeah yeah, go right ahead,” Pidge told them, pushing her nested bed closer to Lance’s. She hopped up onto the pile of pillows and blankets, adjusting her glasses before pulling out her laptop, “When you’re done in there come on back. I’m going to pull up an old movie for us to watch.”

 

“Think he can focus on it?” Keith asked her, glancing at Lance, “He still seems pretty loopy…”

 

“If nothing else he might like the music,” Pidge typed away at the keyboard, looking for the correct file, “I think I have a musical on here somewhere,” she made a face, “Not my thing but I know Lance likes them.”

 

“Yeah, no worries!” Hunk plopped himself down on the end of the bed, “We’ll take care of everything in here. Right, bud?” he patted Lance’s foot. 

 

“Yeah…” Lance nodded as he leaned back further into the pillow behind his head. If he had actually comprehended what Hunk had said was left to be questioned though. 

 

“Remember to keep an eye out and contact us if anything happens,” Shiro gave Lance’s shoulder a squeeze before he fully stepped away, walking to the door with Keith. 

 

“You got it,” Pidge gave an absent minded two finger salute, “Found it! Singing in the Rain….” 

 

Keith sighed as he walked out into the hallway with Shiro, the sound of the movie on Pidge’s laptop fading away as they headed to the training room. 

 

“Something just isn’t right, Shiro,” Keith stated, hand pressing the panel to open the training room doors once they had arrived. 

 

“I know you’re on edge right now, Keith,” Shiro stated, “But you have to calm down or you're going to have a heart attack. Then we’ll have two paladins in the infirmary.”

 

“Hmph,” normally Shiro’s jokes would at least make him crack into a grin, but not this time. Keith knew the difference by now between feeling paranoid over nothing and being paranoid over something, and this was definitely  _ something _ , he just couldn’t figure out what, “The training room seems to have rebooted itself,” he pointed out as they walked across the training floor, “The Gladiators are gone.” 

 

“That’s good,” Shiro nodded, moving to the manual control panel on the far end of the deck, “Let’s run a quick simulation just to be sure. If the training deck has already rebooted this quickly after the shock that it took, maybe the healing pods won’t be far off from rebooting either.”

 

“Sounds fine by me. I could use some stress relief,” Keith nodded, “Computer! Run Gladiator Simulation: level one!” 

 

There was a small bing! from the computer as it accepted the verbal command. Shiro stayed near the manual controls just in case he needed to override anything. Beneath his feet, Keith felt the familiar vibration from the floor as the storage unit for the robots under the floor of the room whirred, choosing one that would be fit for level one. Within moments there came a hissing noise as the hatch opened, the Gladiator rising up into the room from down below.

 

Or, at least, part of it did.

 

The robotic AI that rose from beneath the training room floor was missing a few vital parts, mainly it’s outer coverings, leaving it to stand there bow-legged and bare as just an exoskeleton, rounded orb that was a head lulling to the side ever so slightly. It reminded Keith of a stick figure in a way. 

 

“Ok, that is creepy,” wide-eyed and curious Shiro made his way over to Keith, who was reaching out cautiously to poke at the thing before them. 

 

“Never seen one without its plating on before,” Keith admitted, giving the machine a rather firm poke in it’s metal shoulder, jumping back as the naked Gladiator fell backwards, crashing to the floor, “Something tells me that the system hasn’t quite fully rebooted itself just yet.”

 

“No kidding,” Shiro nodded, “End simulation!” he said louder, listening to the computer’s responding bing! as the floor opened once again beneath where the robot had fallen to suck it back down below, “Again, that was really creepy,” he shivered. 

 

“Let’s head up to the bridge,” Keith suggested, trying to push the image of the lanky exoskeleton out of his mind, “I want to see if Coran and Allura have found out anything in their own scans.”

 

“Right,” Shiro agreed, following his friend out of the training bay. 

 

Keith hmphed as the training room doors slid shut behind them. He paused only a moment, swearing that he heard that same skittering, ever so faint, coming from somewhere up above them. He glanced up at the tall ceilings of the hallway, brows furrowed.

 

“The sooner I know nothing is in this ship that isn’t supposed to be, the better I will feel.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


He barely realized that a movie had been playing. Drifting in and out of sleep, Lance had only come to the realization that there was a movie playing at all when he heard Pidge making a vomiting noise from an apparent kissing scene. For the first time in what felt like forever, Lance began to open his eyes, clarity barely pushing its way through his hazy mind, focusing on the large  **_THE END_ ** displaying on the screen in front of him. 

 

“Did I miss it?” he mumbled out, causing the two seated close by to startle in their seats. 

 

“Lance!” the next thing he saw were hazel eyes behind large round glasses, and of course a smile, “Heeey there!” Pidge waved a hand in front of his face a little, “You awake this time?”

 

“Yes I’m awake,” Lance groaned out, eyes trying their best to follow her hand, “What are you doing?” 

 

“He seems more comprehending this time,” that was Hunk. 

 

Lance groaned again, closing his eyes a moment to chase away the sudden dizziness from watching Pidge’s hand go back and forth, “What happened?”

 

“You don’t remember?” Hunk again. Lance felt his friend’s big, warm hand press against his forehead, “He does feel a little warm.” 

 

“Should I go get Allura or Coran?” that was Pidge’s voice. Why did she sound so concerned? 

 

“Guys...guys…!” Lance reopened his eyes as Hunk moved his hand away, wishing that he hadn’t been so loud when his own voice caused his head to start throbbing, “Please...what happened?” 

 

Hunk’s face came into Lance’s view, that worried expression that the blue paladin had seen so many times on his soft features. That look was never good. 

 

“You kind of, um, got electrocuted back in the training room when the castle was struck by lightning,” Hunk told him, “It blew out most of the systems in the castle including the healing pods so we took you here to the infirmary. There are a couple of burns on your head from where you were wearing the mind melding gear, but mostly it just knocked you out. You’ve been pretty loopy for awhile.”

 

“How long is awhile?” Lance sighed, pushing himself to a better sitting position. His entire body just felt stiff.

 

“Hours,” Pidge sighed, “You don’t remember anything at all? When we came in here you were awake and talking.”

 

Lance’s brows furrowed as he tried to think, “Maybe a little?” he shook his head, “Everything is kind of foggy right now and...and I just feel nasty,” he grunted, swinging his legs off the side of the bed. 

 

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Pidge leapt across the bed instantly grabbing onto Lance’s arm, “Where do you think you’re going?” 

 

“I want to shower,” Lance grumbled out, “I feel disgusting, I’m sure I smell after getting electrocuted and….” he lowered his voice, “I need to use the bathroom…”

 

Pidge immediately let go, hands raised in the air, “He’s all yours, Hunk.”  

 

“What? No,” Lance whined, trying to push himself to stand, “I don’t need a babysitter. I am fully capable of going to the bathroom on my own.”

 

Hunk rolled his eyes. Whenever Lance wasn’t feeling well he tended to get a little, for the lack of better phrasing, childish.

 

“Fine then, Mr. Crankybutt,” Hunk’s hands gave his own knees a firm pat before he stood to his feet before Lance, “Stand up then. Show us that you can handle yourself without falling or wobbling around and we’ll leave you be.” 

 

Lance grumbled, giving Hunk a momentary glare before he grunted, arms giving a mighty push against the mattress to propel himself to stand, eyes closed so that his spinning vision wouldn’t betray him. After a moment or so of standing still, Lance took a deep breath, opening his eyes once he was sure that the spinning sensation had died down, grinning at his large friend. 

 

“Ha! I told you I could do it,” he gloated. 

 

“Uh-huh,” Hunk arched a brow, “Now walk.” 

 

“Don’t rush me,” Lance hissed out some, getting cranky again. 

 

Pidge scooted her way to the edge of the bed, perched and ready to catch Lance if (or rather when) he fell backwards. Grumbling to himself under his breath, Lance’s right foot lifted, he began to take a step forward and-

 

“Gotcha!” 

 

One moment he had been ready to walk on his own and the next he found himself held up by Hunk, body draped over his strong arms. Pidge had lurched forward just in time to grab the back of the black undersuit that he was wearing as he had fallen forward, fingers still tightly grasping the fabric despite Lance being safe. 

 

“Quiznak, Lance,” Pidge scolded, finally letting the other go as Hunk draped one of Lance’s arms about his shoulders to help him stand, “Do you believe us now that you need some help?”

 

“Not a word of this to Keith,” Lance snarled out, grumbling more beneath his breath as Hunk hoisted him to his feet. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, not a word. We know,” Hunk glanced at Pidge, giving her a look that said report every damn thing to the others despite what Lance wanted, “C’mon, buddy. Let’s get you to the bathroom so you can wash up, ok?”

 

“I’ll go get his pajamas,” Pidge shut her laptop, securing it under her arm as she hopped off the bed, “I’ll let the others know he’s up and out of bed, too. They’ll be happy to hear it.” 

 

Hunk waved her off with a nod as he helped Lance through the infirmary ward towards the bathroom area in the back. The infirmary bathroom was much larger than any of their private bathrooms were in their separate dorms. Where their private bathrooms mainly consisted of a toilet (a very weird Altean toilet that had taken all of them months to get used to) a standing shower, sink and mirror, the infirmary bathroom was large and filled with tubs, steam rooms and large shower stalls, some of which had bars to grab onto on the walls and a built in seat. Those were the ones that Hunk took Lance to. 

 

“Are you going to get in the shower with me too?” Lance complained as Hunk helped him down into one of the chairs in front of a shower stall. 

 

“C’mon, Lance. Enough,” Hunk sighed as he helped his friend to peel off the black undersuit carefully, “You know we’re just worried. We thought we had lost you back in the training room…it was scary.” 

 

Lance winced some as he pulled his stiff limbs out of the tight black fabric, rubbing his arms a little as if he had not been getting enough circulation. His lips curled downwards into a guilty frown. 

 

“Yeah...I know...I know…” he mumbled, “I just don’t want to be a burden to anyone.” 

 

“You’re not,” Hunk helped Lance to stand briefly one more time as he helped him to fully pull off the remainder of the suit, “This could have happened to anyone. Not your fault the ship got hit with lightning.” 

 

“I guess,” Lance nodded, shivering now that his skin was bare of any clothing. In a way he was grateful that it was Hunk who was helping him get to the showers. They had used the group showers together so much back at the Garrison and roomed together for so long that nudity between the two of them was nothing new, “But seriously…you’re not going to get in the shower with me, are you?”

 

“I will if you want help,” Hunk told him, keeping hold of Lance’s arm to help him stand as he guided him into the shower stall, “But there’s a seat in here, see? You should be ok.”

 

Lance sighed, nodding as his friend helped him to take a seat in the shower, “Thanks, Hunk.” 

 

“No problem, man,” Hunk smiled, giving Lance’s shoulder a pat, “Go ahead and get some hot water going. I’m sure these things still work. I’ll go see if I can find you some soap and stuff.”

 

Lance nodded again, “I promise I’ll call out if I need you.”

 

Hunk nodded in return, giving Lance a quick thumbs up before he stepped away and shut the shower curtain, giving Lance his privacy. Lance took a deep, long breath once he was alone. This was all too crazy. With a heavy sigh, he slowly unwrapped the bandages from about his forehead, wincing when he touched the slightly burned skin of his temples. Nothing the pods wouldn’t be able to fix up once they were working, he mused to himself, tossing the bandages under the shower curtain and out of the stall. He turned his attention back to the wall of the shower, glad that these stalls worked the same as their own showers. Lance placed his hand onto the control pad on the shower wall to activate the shower, brows furrowing when he saw his fingers twitching.

 

Odd. He hadn’t realized he had been doing that. He pulled his hand away as the water began to fall from the showerhead in the ceiling, cool at first but gradually warming up to a temperature that Lance found comfortable. He looked down at his hand, focusing on those twitching fingers. Raising his other hand, he took into account that both fingers were doing that; twitching in almost an identical pattern as if typing on a keyboard. 

 

_ Maybe I’m worse off than I thought.  _ Lance thought to himself with a frown. 

 

What good would a sharpshooter be with twitchy fingers? None, that was for sure. He let his hands rest in his naked lap, leaning back against the warming wall of the shower as the water fell over his skin. The water felt wonderful, but the feel of those twitching fingers bothered him. 

 

_ Try not to think about it.  _ He told himself, taking another deep breath to calm himself and clear his mind.  _ Hunk said I got electrocuted. I should be happy I can even stand. A pod will fix those hands right up.  _ Or, at least he hoped that they would. 

 

Lance closed his eyes as the water reached just the perfect temperature, willing his body to relax and just enjoy the warmth of the falling water. The sound of the shower reminded him of rain like back on Earth. That, mixed with the sounds of the never-ending storm from outside, soon began to lull him back into the purgatory of sleep. 

 

The next thing Lance knew there was a crash of thunder, loud enough to pull him out of his slumber with a start. Catching himself before he was able to slip out of the shower seat, Lance blinked a few times to get his eyes back into focus through the steam now arising from the hot water in the stall. 

 

“Must have dozed off…” he mumbled to himself, then realized something: one of his hands wasn’t in his lap. This wouldn’t have been odd, body parts did tend to shuffle about when a person was sleeping, but what caught the Cuban’s attention was where said hand had ended up. 

 

Lance’s hand was pressed firmly against the control pad of the shower where an onscreen keyboard had somehow been pulled up onto the device, his twitching fingers ticking away, typing something in. 

 

“What the hell?” Lance pulled his hand away quickly once he realized what he was doing, flexing out his hand. 

 

He stared at his hand a moment as though it could give him the answer before he scooted closer to the wall where the control pad was. Whatever his hand had decided to type in, Lance couldn’t read it. For one, the steam in the stall was getting pretty thick and two it was all in Altean. Part of him wanted to delete whatever gibberish he had typed in. It felt weird to him somehow. The other half said let it be. If he couldn’t read it, there were at least three other people on the ship that could. That, and in his current state he really wasn’t sure which button to hit to delete it anyway.

 

**KLANK.**

 

The sound of something crashing to the floor from up above made him jump. Lance quickly looked away from the control pad he had been so intently staring at, turning his attention to instead stare at the shower curtain (as if he could see anything through it). 

 

“H-Hunk?” Lance called out, “Hunk? Bro? Was that you?” 

 

Footsteps. Lance swallowed, hand slamming onto the control pad to stop the water so that he could hear better. The steps sounded heavy, slow, as though the person who owned them was searching for the right way to go. Lance hugged himself a little trying to be as quiet as possible.  

 

Shit. Shit this was not good…. 

 

“Lance?” the voice that came was definitely not his best friend’s, but Lance relaxed when he heard it. 

 

“Keith,” he sighed out, listening as the footsteps picked up, growing close to where he was at, “What are you doing in here?” he blushed suddenly, realizing just how naked he was. And there was no towel in sight. Well fuck. 

 

“Lance, there you are,” came Keith’s voice again. Lance’s brow furrowed. Keith’s voice...it sounded just as close as it had been before. As if Keith had been standing right next to him the entire time. “I was worried.”

 

“Worried?” Lance snorted a little, “Why would you be worried? I’m fine...Hunk and Pidge took good care of me,” he found himself pushing his legs together, face reddening. Damn. He hoped Keith had a towel or something with him. Hunk seeing him naked was one thing, but Keith seeing him naked….and wet….and vulnerable….

 

Nope! Lance pushed those thoughts aside. Now was  _ not  _ the time for that. 

 

The footsteps stopped just outside of the stall that he was sitting in. Lance could see the silhouette of his team mate through the white shower curtain. Well, it kind of looked like him anyway. With all the steam that was in there it was hard to make out Keith’s distinct shape. Lance squinted some; Keith seemed taller for some reason. 

 

“Lance you need to come with me,” Keith’s hand began to reach up to pull the shower curtain aside, “I need to get you back to the team. Back to where it is safe.”

 

“Safe?” Lance yelped and reached forward quickly to grab onto the shower curtain, trying to keep it shut, “What’s going on?”

 

Keith tugged on the shower curtain, “You were hurt. They took you away. I need to get you back where it is safe before they come for you again.”

 

“Keith you aren’t making any sense!” Lance protested, tugging with what strength he had to keep the shower curtain closed. 

 

“I will get you back to where it is safe, back to the others where we can all help you,” Keith repeated, Lance noticing this time how the voice wavered, sounding almost monotone in it’s phrasing, “I will not let you be harmed again.” 

 

Another strong tug on the shower curtain, this one strong enough to not only rip the plastic fabric out of Lance’s hand, but pull it off the rings all together. 

 

“Keith what the fuck?!” Lance scooted back at the force, paling as he was finally able to see who was before him, “Y-You’re not-!” he scrambled backwards until he felt himself trapped against the shower wall.

 

“Come with me, Lance,” the voice was still Keith’s, but the body was not. A hand reached out to him, cold fingers brushing against Lance’s skin, “I will keep you safe.”


	3. Chapter 3

It had taken him longer than expected to find the items that he wanted. The supplies Hunk had been looking for had been in the far back of the bathroom area, buried deep behind forgotten Altean trinkets and the like. Hunk had made sure to inspect the bottles when he found them. After ten thousand years of unuse, he wanted to be sure that the soap and shampoo could still even be used. Their own soaps had been picked up fresh and new from the space mall and he certainly could have gone back to his own quarters to get those, but he didn’t want to leave his best friend unattended for too long or be out of earshot in case Lance needed him. Once he was sure that the supplies were good, he bundled them up with the towels he had found and headed back across the vast bathing area.

 

Hunk was halfway back when he heard the ominous  **KLANK** come from up above, stopping in his tracks when he saw a large vent covering fall from the ceiling, something large dropping out with it. 

 

_ The hell??  _ Hunk’s instincts kicked in, immediately crouching down as whatever had fallen from the vent rose up from the ground where it had landed and began to walk through the row of showers. 

 

“H-Hunk?” He could hear Lance call out to him, “Hunk? Bro? Was that you?” 

 

Hunk paled as whatever it was turned towards the voice.  _ Lance! _

 

Quickly and gently so as not to be heard, Hunk placed his bundle of towels and soaps onto the floor before he moved forward as quietly as he could, trying to get a glimpse of whatever was walking through the shower stalls. He wished that he could get a better view of it to know what he was up against, but that would be impossible without getting too close and revealing that he was there. Whatever it was began making a soft humming sound, low at first, then slightly higher pitched. It was a soft, soothing sound which echoed throughout the large room, causing a chill to run down the yellow paladin’s spine. 

 

Sucking in a quiet breath, Hunk moved as stealthily as he could in the opposite row of stalls, following the things footsteps until he heard them stop. It was in front of the stall where Hunk had left Lance to shower. He was close enough now that he could hear the things humming even better and….wait, was Lance talking to it? Hunk tilted his head towards the wall of the stall, trying to make out what Lance was saying. 

 

Keith. He heard the name Keith come from Lance’s lips. Keith was here? No, that couldn’t have been. If Keith was here, Hunk was sure that thing would have been impaled by now. The thing, however, seemed to respond to the name, those soothing hums almost purring in response when Lance spoke to it. 

 

_ This is getting really creepy and really weird…!  _ Hunk swallowed as a shiver ran through his body. He began to move again to the end of the row so that he could get to the other side and assess the situation better.

 

Cautiously, making sure to keep low, Hunk peered around the corner at the end of the row, eyes squinting some to try and see through the heated haze covering the area. He couldn’t hear the water running, Lance must have turned it off, but the steam had still remained, barely dissipating in the alien built area created to keep in the warmth of the showers for comfort.Though with the current situation the steam was creating more harm than comfort.

 

Hunk could make out a shape within the steam: lanky and tall, large hands with long, thin fingers, a red glow from where the eyes would be...this was a creature from someone’s nightmare. 

 

The thing cooed out to Lance again, the sound like wind through a small tunnel as it reached up to move the shower curtain. Hunk could hear Lance protesting, hear the concern in his voice…concern which turned to fear once the thing ripped the shower curtain from it’s rings, tossing it aside. 

 

“Keith what the fuck?! Y-You’re not-!”

 

Hunk saw the thing move quickly then, leaning into the shower stall, those long arms reaching inside for Lance. 

 

_ Nope! _

 

That was enough for Hunk. He was a large man, but when he wanted to he could move with all the force of a charging bull. Letting out a yell, he ran full force into the steam, shoulder slamming into the cold body of whatever the hell it was that was reaching for his best friend. He heard it screech as it was thrown back, slamming into the floor, the yellow paladin’s strength great enough to send it flying halfway down the row. 

 

“Lance!” Hunk reached into the shower, grasping his best friend’s trembling shoulders. “Lance are you ok?!” 

 

Wide blue eyes stared back at him, the pupils dilated and glossed, his body shaking. Lance didn’t seem to be all there again. Hunk cursed under his breath as he hoisted Lance up into his arms, water soaking through his shirt as he held the other’s wet body close, backing away from the shower when he heard the thing getting back to its feet. The gentle, eerie crooning was gone, replaced by an agitated clicking noise. Hunk could hear the creaking of its limbs as it rose from the ground.

 

In the back of his mind, Hunk knew he should look at it, to actually see what the thing that had emerged from the vents above looked like so he could better assess what he was up against, but his present (and much more logical) state of mind told him one thing:  **_run._ **

 

Hunk turned on his heels, bolting down the row, heading for the exit. Behind him, the thing gave out an earsplitting screech, one which pierced his eardrums. Hunk cursed, pressing Lance’s wet body tighter to his chest, picking up speed. Heavy, clanging footsteps could be heard behind him, another angered scream echoing off the walls of the once calm and quiet area.

 

Whatever the hell the thing was it did not like that Hunk had taken away its prey. 

 

_ Clang...Clang…. _ **_CLANG!_ **

The hammering steps became louder behind him, the thing gaining on Hunk with each stride of its long legs. Hunk could feel it growing closer. Brown eyes looked down momentarily at his shaking friend in his arms: Lance’s face was buried in Hunk’s chest, mumbling incoherently to himself (or maybe to Hunk, he couldn’t tell) with whimpering words. The thing wanted Lance, had  _ hunted _ him for some reason. Hunk would be damned to let it have its way. 

 

Holding Lance firmly with one arm, Hunk punched the door scanner with enough force to crack the cover as he slid through the exit of the bathroom, the door slamming shut with a hiss behind him. Shifting Lance in his arms, Hunk took a moment to catch his breath, sweat dripping down his brow as his chest heaved, eyes focused on the now fully sealed and locked door. He half expected the damnable creature to be clawing and scratching at the doorway trying to get in, or to at least hear it screech again. Something. Anything.

 

Nothing. 

 

There was absolute silence from behind the door, as though the creature had just...stopped. 

  
Hunk’s blood ran cold. Swallowing back the lump in his throat, he turned to leave, wanting nothing more than to get Pidge and get as far as he possibly could from this area before whatever that thing had been decided to show up again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just a teaser chapter. The next will be longer I promise!


	4. Chapter 4

“I assure you, Coran and I have run every scan that we could possibly think of, automated and manual, and there are no signs of anything being in the castle that shouldn’t be here.”

 

Allura watched aimlessly as the red paladin paced before her, his eyes glancing every now and then upwards towards the vast ceilings. Shiro and Keith had met them on the bridge some time ago with reports about the training room damage as well as the condition of the Gladiator that had arisen from below its floors. While that in itself seemed odd, Allura was sure that the news of finding no intruders or anomalies with the scans would have at least helped to calm their minds, though with the way Keith was moving with agitated steps, it had indeed done the opposite. Pushing a strand of white hair back behind her ear, Allura moved to Keith, reaching out to touch his elbow gently. 

 

“I know you are worried, Keith,” she spoke calmly to him, as if the wrong phrase would set his paranoia off once again, “We all are. But the scans-”

 

“Scans can be wrong!” Keith butted in more aggressively than he had meant to, turning his gaze to the Altean before him. “I am not some nutjob. I know what I saw and heard!” 

 

“No one is doubting that,” Shiro placed a hand firmly onto Keith’s shoulder to calm him, “All Allura is saying is that if there is something in here, the scans didn’t pick it up. That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything in here but maybe-” 

 

“I know what I saw,” Keith grumbed out again, pulling his shoulder from Shiro’s loose grip. 

 

“Come now, Keith,” Coran spoke up, “Allura and I have no reason to disbelieve what you said that you witnessed. From what we found in our reports though there is nothing out of sort on or in the ship that shouldn’t be. If you’d like you can come and see the readouts for yourself.”

 

Keith huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, “I know what I sound like. People told me things like this all the time when I was out in the canyon on my own. Back on Earth when I was searching for you, Shiro.”

 

“Keith, no one has said anything like that-” Shiro began, mouth snapping shut when Keith gave him a look. 

 

“You don’t have to say it...I can tell by the way you look at me….” Keith’s foot tapped gently from irritation, “...but….” he closed his eyes a moment, taking a long, deep breath before he reopened them, shoulders relaxing some, “...if Coran and Allura say that there’s nothing off on the scanners….I believe them. Maybe….” his arms uncrossed, the foot tapping ceasing but his eyes averted their gaze, “...Maybe I am just being paranoid after all….”

 

“I’m sure you’re not being paranoid,” Allura stated, “You’re being cautious is all. With everything that has happened today I’m sure we’re all a little on edge-”

 

“THEY’RE IN THE VENTS!!” 

 

Allura nearly jumped out of her suit as the yellow paladin came barging into the room with the green paladin in tow, Pidge slamming her hand onto the entrance door panel to securely lock it down. 

 

“Hunk? What in the world-OH MY!” Allura’s face turned a rather nice shade of crimson as she turned on her heels, “Why is Lance naked?!” 

 

“What?” it took Hunk a moment to comprehend what Allura had asked before the realization hit him, “Oh! Uhm, yeah. That.” he wrapped his arms around Lance, making sure the shivering blue paladin’s front was secure against his chest. While this was fine for a frontal cover, it left the back and bottom half of the Cuban rather….exposed, “Sorry, we just-we had to run and-” he looked at them, shifting awkwardly, “Can we have something to cover him please??”

 

“I tried to grab a blanket from the infirmary, but Hunk drug me out before I could,” Pidge explained, keeping one hand up on the side of her face to block the naked bottom from her sight (she had seen enough male genitalia while hiding out at the Garrison to last a lifetime), “I had Lance’s pajamas but I dropped those when we were running.”

 

“You still have your computer though, I see,” Coran arched a brow at her. 

 

Pidge shrugged, “Priorities.”

 

“Hunk, what happened?” Keith removed his jacket, wrapping it around Lance’s bottom half the best that he could with how the other was being held. It wasn't much but it was something.

 

“I took Lance to get a shower,” Hunk hoisted Lance up a little more in his arms so that Keith could better reach to cover him with the short jacket, “This thing attacked while we were in there. It just came out of the vents and went after Lance!”

 

“Thing?” Keith’s eyebrows raised before he turned to look back at Shiro, “I  _ knew  _ it! I told you there was something in this ship that shouldn’t be!”

 

“Keith…” Shiro gave his younger friend a nudge as he stepped next to him, “What thing?” he asked Hunk. 

 

“I don’t know, I didn’t really take the time to gaze at it,” Hunk rubbed Lance’s back a little when he felt him shiver, “Really, guys, do we have anything else for him? Keith’s jacket is fine but my shirt is wet, he’s still kind of wet and it’s cold in here.”

 

“Here now, give the lad to me,” Coran walked over with open arms. He had made himself grow a little taller and broader with his Altean ability so as to better be able to carry the other, “Easy now. That’s a good lad,” he spoke soft and soothingly as Hunk handed the shivering boy over to him, concern thick on his features when he saw the blue paladin’s glassy expression and twitching hands, “Right. There’s a medical pod suit in here. The pod itself may not be running but we can at least give him some warm knickers to cover him up. Princess no peeking now!”

 

“Honestly, Coran-!” Allura huffed at the teasing, her back towards them still. 

 

“Hunk! The thing?” Keith shook his head, his own cheeks flushed as he moved his eyes away from Coran carrying Lance and back to the Samoan, “What did you and Pidge see?”

 

“I didn’t see anything,” Pidge pointed out as she took a seat at her post on the bridge. She opened her computer to connect it up with the Castle’s own systems, “Hunk’s the one that saw everything. Well, him and Lance. I was on my way back into the infirmary when I saw him run back in looking as though he’d seen a ghost.” 

 

“Whatever,” Keith groaned out, “What was it?!”

 

“Like I said, I don’t know,” Hunk rubbed the back of his head, “I left Lance in the stall to shower while I went to get some bath stuff from the back. You know, give him some privacy. When I was on my way back to the stall though, something busted out of this vent in the ceiling. I really didn’t get a good look at it. It was so steamy in there I was lucky I could see it at all.”

 

“What did you manage to see?” Shiro questioned. 

 

“Mm...it was tall; about my height, maybe taller,” Hunk took a breath as he thought. Everything had happened so quickly, “It was cold and hard. I remember that. I slammed into the damn thing when it tried to take Lance.” 

 

“What else?’ Keith pushed the questions forward, “If you couldn’t see it, there had to be something else.” 

 

“It was quick...and creepy,” Hunk shuttered at the memory of the thing chasing him through the bathing area, “And-and it made these weird noises like….like….” he trailed off trying to think of the right word, “Like a theremin.”

 

“A what?” Allura had finally turned around, joining the group. 

 

“You know, a theremin. It makes this  _ wooooOOOoooo _ sound,” Hunk tried to imitate what he had heard. 

 

“I….see,” Allura arched a brow at the noise Hunk had made, “That doesn’t seem very pleasant.”

 

“It wasn’t,” Hunk shook his head, “It was creepy. I never want to have to hear that again,” his eyes widened some as a remembered the creepiest part, “And Lance was talking to it.”

 

“He was doing what?” it was Shiro’s turn to have an odd expression on his face, “Why would he be talking to it?”

 

“I don’t know! But….he called it Keith,” Hunk looked at the red paladin, “Whatever the hell it was seemed to really like it when Lance called it that.”

 

Keith felt his face flush hotter, “Why the hell would he think I’m some kind of monster?!”

 

“Again I don’t know!” Hunk rubbed his temples, “Listen, all I know is that the damn thing, whatever the hell it was, came out of the vent, tried to take Lance, and I ran like Satan himself was chasing me once I got us out of there!” 

 

“Please calm yourself, Hunk,” Allura placed her her hands on the yellow paladin’s arm, “Everything you’ve told us is enough to at least give us an idea of what is inside the Castle,” she looked to Keith, “Do you think that this creature Hunk encountered is the same that you witnessed in the infirmary with Lance?”

 

“Maybe?” Keith nodded a little, “But I only saw shadows. I didn’t hear any weird noises except afterwards up in the….vents….” he paused a moment, head tilting upwards towards the ceiling, “Allura….are...there any vents in here?”

 

“Yes, but they are blocked off,” Allura strode past the paladins to her control point in the middle of the room. Placing her hands onto the glowing controls, she brought up a screen with a quick blueprint of the bridge area, “The bridge has its own particle barrier built into the walls, floor to ceiling, for extra protection as does the medical wing attached to it where the pods are. It’s constantly up and running. As you can see here it’s still at full capacity despite the system reboot. Nothing can get in or out unless we want it to.”

 

Hunk sighed in relief, “That’s good. I don’t ever want to see whatever that thing was again.”

 

“We may have to,” Shiro stated, causing Hunk’s frown to deepen, “With what you’ve told us Hunk, and from what Keith saw as well, there may be more than just one of them in the castle. And if the scans aren’t able to pick them up, we may have to hunt them down ourselves to be rid of them...whatever they might be.”

 

“Shiro is correct,” Allura turned the screen off, stepping down from her control point to join them once again, “Though this isn’t something that we can just go into blindly. These creatures, whatever they may be, are undetectable to our scans. We’ll have to use all of our wit in order to find and entrap them.”

 

Nods of agreement, followed by silence. Even though Allura had assured them that the bridge was secured with its own inner particle barrier, Hunk’s words of what had happened seemed to haunt their minds. The uneasiness of the room seemed to increase with each second of silence that passed.

 

“Is Lance all right?” Keith finally broke the silence with his question, eyes looking over to where Coran had taken the blue paladin to dress him, “...He looks worse than he did before.”

 

“I don’t know,” If Hunk could frown any deeper his lips would sink to the floor, “That has me more worried than those creeps running around in the vents. Before the shower, he was awake. Like, really awake and talking. I don’t know if he’s in shock or….or if that thing did something to him….”

 

“He’s a tad bit shaken, that’s for sure,” Coran had been listening to the conversation from where he had been dressing Lance. The auburn haired paladin was now fully covered in the cream and tan healing pod suit, resting on a quick makeshift bed that Coran had managed to produce from Keith’s coat and a small blanket he had found in a nearby emergency kit. Lance’s hands and fingers were still twitching as his eyes just...stared. “I can’t say what is wrong, not without the proper equipment….” he touched Lance’s cheek gently, looking into the glassy, half lidded eyes.

“Guys!” Pidge piped up suddenly from her seat, “Come here! I think I found something you would want to see!” 

 

“What is it?” Shiro moved over to Pidge’s station, hand on the back of her seat as he peered over her shoulder at the glowing holo-screen, joined shortly by Hunk and Allura. Keith, not wanting to crowd, had gone over to help Coran with Lance. 

 

“I wanted to get an idea of what we were up against so I accessed the Castle’s security systems,” Pidge advised, typing in a few commands to bring the screen of her laptop up onto the larger holo-screen before her, “I ran through some of the security feed around the times that both Keith said he encountered those things as well as when Hunk was in the bathroom with Lance and, well, look for yourself.” she hit a key, playing footage of both areas on a split screen. 

 

Both feeds seemed pretty normal at first glance. On the left was from earlier that day, showing Keith in the infirmary with Lance. It went through the course of Keith talking with Lance, helping him to sit up and so on, nothing seeming to be out of place. The same came from the footage beside it: Hunk helping Lance into the infirmary’s vast bathroom and leading him into the rows of shower stalls (Hunk was very happy to learn that the cameras did not point directly at the showers but rather above them). Everything was normal.

 

Then the screens began to fritz. It wasn’t noticeable at first. Maybe a hitch here or there, the camera freezing for a few seconds before proceeding with its regular recording. It was about two or three minutes into each video that the glitches began to become more visible. 

 

“Now watch,” Pidge typed in a few more commands into her computer, enhancing the video feed to focus on the vents in each of the rooms, “This is where things begin to get weird…”

 

“As if they aren’t weird enough already?” Hunk mumbled, curiosity making him lean forward more over the back of Pidge’s chair. 

 

Though blurred due to the enhancement, the vents in the playback could still be seen well enough. While the vent in the infirmary bathroom was busted wide open, causing the covering to crash to the ground (a sound that caused Hunk’s spine to shudder at the memory), the vent in the infirmary itself was being opened slowly, the screws being undone from the inside and gently pushed out, one by one. The only other thing that could be be seen were long, pointed fingers slipping out on either side of the vent, meticulously curling about the metal as the covering was being removed. 

 

**_FSSSSSSSSTTTTT!!!_ **

 

The sudden burst of static that came from the speakers of the computer caused the tiny group to jump in place. Whatever had been coming out of the vents on both feeds was gone now, replaced by only static sounds and wavy lines. Much to the group’s dismay, the hands coming from the vent and one large foot descending from the other were all that they could see of the creatures that had been lurking behind them.

 

“From then on there’s only static on both feeds,” Pidge hit pause on the feedback, tilting her head back to look up at the other three that had been leaning so intently over her, “I forwarded it to after the static, but there’s nothing there. In the bathroom infirmary all I saw was the open vent, and then just Keith helping up Lance off the floor in the infirmary footage.”

 

“So these... _ things  _ or whatever they are, they were able to disrupt the camera feed to hide themselves as well?” Allura straightened herself up, in near disbelief that something like this could have occurred, “But how? My Father was sure to put in the most enhanced securities so that something like this wouldn’t happen!”

 

“No offense, Allura, but it has been ten thousand years since this ship was built,” Shiro pointed out to her, “While I’m sure your Father did everything he could to ensure the safety of those on this ship at the time, things have changed since it was built. These things in the castle may have evolved far beyond King Alfor’s original thoughts of what would be needed.”

 

“I suppose you are right,” Allura nodded solemnly, though the thought of her ship being old and outdated brought her no comfort.  

 

“Hey Pidge?” Hunk leaned back down to her, “Go back to the static part in the bathroom.” 

 

“What? Why?” Pidge arched a brow, “There’s nothing there.”

 

“Maybe not to see, but just hear me out. I swear I could still hear some sound feed coming through the static. Think you could try to separate out the static from any of the more distinct sounds if there are any?”

 

“Sure, I guess,” Pidge cracked her knuckles, flexing her fingers out a moment before she went back to her keyboard to work on the request, “But why?”

 

“I want to see if we can hear that thing talking to Lance,” Hunk stated, “Believe me, I don’t  _ want _ to hear it again. I’ll be having nightmares for an eternity already, but I really think you guys need to hear it. It might help us figure something else out.”

 

“Good idea, Hunk,” Shiro nodded to him, “The more we can identify about these things the better.”

 

“All right, all right,” Pidge pushed her glasses back up her nose as she worked, “Give me a few minutes.” 

 

Not too far from the group, Keith had overheard the entire conversation between his four teammates, brows furrowed as he looked to Lance covered in a blanket on the floor, Keith’s red and white jacket acting as a pillow beneath his head. Lance’s eyes were closed now, whether it be from passing out or not Keith couldn’t be sure, but violet eyes kept going back to the sharpshooter’s hands, the fingers twitching away still. Without thinking, Keith knelt down beside the blue paladin, reaching out to take one of Lance’s hands.

 

“Gackt for your thoughts?” Coran’s voice broke through Keith’s internal contemplation. 

 

“His hands,” Keith pulled away instinctively when he heard Coran, his fingers barely brushing against the top of Lance’s hand, “They haven’t stopped twitching since the training room accident.”

“Mmm, I see,” Coran’s own gloved hands reached out in place of Keith’s as he knelt down, lifting one of Lance’s hands up gently in his own to observe it. Even in Coran’s loose grip, the fingers continued to move, “There wasn’t any nerve damage when I was last able to get a scan on him,” he pondered a moment as he moved the hand a little, trying to see if the fingers would react any differently. 

 

“I’ve been watching his hands since we had him in the infirmary,” Keith admitted finally, knowing what he would say next would sound a little odd, “It’s like his fingers are moving in a pattern.”

 

“Pattern?” Coran looked to Keith a moment before he looked back at the fingers.

 

“Yeah, they move in the same pattern. Both hands,” pushing insecurities aside, Keith knelt down again to take Lance’s other hand from where it lay resting on his chest, “Look…” he carefully held it up at equal height with the hand that Coran was holding. 

 

Together the two watched as the fingers moved simultaneously in a perfect duet, one finger mimicking its opposite. 

 

“You see?” Keith shook his head, “It doesn’t make any sense.”

 

Coran set Lance’s hand down to rest on the boy’s chest, fingers reaching back to twist the tip of his mustache as he thought, “It almost looks like he’s typing something out in the air,” he mused before snapping to his feet, “One moment, my boy. I will be right back!”

 

“Ok…” Keith blinked as the Altean advisor quickly scurried away to the far side of the bridge. 

 

With a sigh he stayed where he was beside Lance, thoughts drifting off to all the possibilities of what could be wrong with the other. Yes, Coran had admitted that there had been no nerve damage on the vital scans taken in the infirmary, but he and Allura had also assured Keith and Shiro that their scans had picked up nothing dangerous in the castle. If those scans were wrong, whether it was by fault of the strange creatures or not, couldn’t the infirmary scans have been wrong as well? What if Lance  _ did  _ have nerve damage and they couldn’t get him to a pod in time to fix it? 

 

What if…. 

 

“Keith,” a gentle hand placed on his shoulder brought the red paladin back into reality, “If you don’t mind, I will need to have both of Lance’s hands for this little experiment.”

 

“What?” Keith looked down at his hand still holding Lance’s. The grasp was firm, yet gentle, his thumb absentmindedly running along the tanned skin. Hoping Coran didn’t see the red across his cheeks, Keith quickly let go of Lance’s hand as Coran set a tablet beneath it, “Of course. Sorry.”

 

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Coran nodded to him, adjusting Lance’s other hand onto the tablet to match a placement with the other, “Now, let’s see of our hypothesis is right, shall we?” he turned the clear tablet on, watching as Lance’s hands went to work. 

 

Keith leaned in a little closer as he watched the fingers move. They were typing something all right. Something entirely in Altean that he couldn’t read. He looked to Coran once or twice, trying to read the other’s facial features to see if the lines that were being typed in made any type of sense, though Cora’s features remained calm and still. Once the pattern had repeated itself a few times, Coran removed the tablet from under Lance’s fingertips, helping the other to rest his hands gently on his chest. 

 

“Well?” Keith rose to his feet to stand beside the other, “Was he actually typing something out?”

 

“Hmm….” Coran rubbed his chin as he read over the tablet, brow arched, “Yes and no.”

 

Keith frowned, “That’s not helpful, Coran.”

 

“Well, the lad is definitely typing something. His fingers moved in this same pattern nearly four times before I turned the tablet off. But it doesn’t make any sense!” Coran showed Keith the writing on the tablet to emphasize his point.

 

“Coran, I can’t read Altean,” Keith sighed. 

 

“Oh! Right right,” Coran cleared his throat some, “Well, see these?” he pointed, “They are just spelling out numbers over and over again. It’s gibberish. I can’t make a lick of it out.”

 

Gibberish. Keith’s face fell when he heard Coran say those words. So it may just be nerve damage after all. Coran seemed to have seen the forlorn look on Keith’s features as he quickly gave the other a hearty pat on the back. 

 

“Now now,” Coran stated, an attempted lightheartedness in his tone, “Just because I can’t figure out what it is doesn’t mean anything. Let’s have Allura and number five take a look at it before we jump to any conclusions. They may be able to see something these old peepers have missed.”

“Right,” Keith nodded in agreement, taking a breath. He had to push those thoughts aside and try to focus. 

 

Coran turned away from Keith then, sauntering over to Allura to show the Princess and the others what they had done with the tablet and Lance. Keith wanted to follow him to see what the reactions would be and see if the others had any ideas as to what it meant, but he lingered behind. Part of him just felt that it was wrong to leave Lance on his own, even if it was just in a far corner of the room. Arms crossed over his chest, Keith moved a small distance away from Lance to lean against the wall in a spot where he could keep both the blue paladin and his other friends in his sights. 

 

“I don’t understand this at all,” Allura tilted her head a little after Coran handed her the tablet, “It’s just repeating numbers. Pidge, you said that you were able to read Altean rather well now,” she began to hand the tablet over to the green paladin still at work at her computer, “Perhaps Lance typed in some sort of Earth phrase that Coran and I aren’t understanding?”

 

“Just one minute,” Pidge never looked up from her screen as she worked, “I almost have the sound separated….!” a toothy grin spread across her lips as she triumphed, “Aha! Got it!” she looked back to her companions, “It’s not perfect but I was able to filter out the sounds from the static. Now we can hear what Hunk heard in the infirmary bathroom.”

 

“Great. Now we can all share the nightmare,” Hunk shuddered at the mere memory of that agitated clicking, “Can you hear Lance, too?” he asked. That was the part that concerned him the most. 

 

“I think so,” Pidge nodded, “Here. I’ll play it back, then I’ll look at the tablet, Allura.”

 

The Princess nodded, hugging the tablet to her chest as they all gathered back around Pidge’s chair; Keith even leaned forward a little away from the wall wanting to hear what would be played. 

 

Once sure that the sound was at an acceptable level, Pidge pressed play on her computer. The audio began to play, soundwaves on the holo-screen program moving up and down as Lance and Hunk could be heard talking first, their voices soft and echoing in the bathroom. Then the shower running, followed finally by the sound of the vent crashing to the floor. Keith shut his eyes tight as the next sound emerged from the speakers. 

 

“Shit,” it wasn’t often that Shiro swore, “That...that is creepy.”

 

“That’s definitely not human,” Pidge’s eyes were wide as she listened with the others to the strange cooing noises the creature made. 

 

“That’s not like any sound I have ever heard, either,” Allura’s eyes were wide as the wailing coos continued from the speakers. 

 

Keith took a deep breath, eyes reopening as he listened to the sounds. Then he heard Lance’s voice come from the speakers, speaking his name. His body tensed when he heard the purring reply from the unseen creature. Hunk had been right: it really enjoyed it when Lance called it by his name. But why? 

 

“Nnn….”

 

“Hm?” Keith looked over to where Lance was lying, his body beginning to shift on the blankets he had been placed on. “Lance?” he moved away from the wall, at the Cuban’s side with only a couple long strides. 

 

Lance’s eyes were shut tightly, beads of cold sweat dotting his forehead. His body was tense, hands slightly up in the air. It looked as though he was having some sort of nightmare. 

 

“Lance? Lance it’s ok….” Keith placed his hands onto Lance’s shoulders, trying to calm him. He wasn’t even sure if the other would be able to hear him in his current state. 

 

Gently, Keith pressed Lance’s shoulders back onto the blankets, trying his best to calm the other as he shifted in his current state, lost in some unseen nightmare that haunted his inner mind. Then the nightmare came into reality as an ear splitting screech filtered its way through Pidge’s speakers. Lance’s eyes flew open, wide, glassy….fearful. 

 

“NO!” with strength the red paladin didn’t even know the other possessed, Lance shot straight up, shoving Keith back before scrambling backwards away from him, “No! Get away from me!!”

 

“Lance!” caught off guard, Keith did his best to get back onto his feet as the others came rushing over. 

 

“What happened?” Shiro was beside Keith, hooking his arms under Keith’s to help lift him to his feet. 

 

“Lance, my boy! Calm yourself….calm!” Coran had moved past Keith to the auburn haired paladin pressing himself up against the wall. “Easy now...you are safe….no one here is going to hurt y-ow!!” 

 

Lance had kicked out, slamming his foot into the side of Coran’s face as the other got closer to him. Sweat dripped down the sides of his face, eyes unfocused as they looked around at the group before him. The screech came again from the speakers, causing Lance to clamp his hands down over his ears. 

 

“NO!! GO AWAY!!”

 

“Pidge turn off the sound!!” Allura demanded, helping Coran to get his balance as he stood back up from the kick. 

 

Pidge scrambled back to her seat, nearly tripping over the back of the chair as she snapped her laptop shut, killing the sound feed from the surrounding speakers. Sighing in relief, she turned back to her friends, walking carefully and quietly back to the semi-circle of concerned bodies around the shaking blue paladin. 

 

“Lance….” Pidge wanted to reach out and hold him, but Coran shook his head. 

 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, number five,” Coran rubbed the bruise that was forming on his cheek, “He clocked me pretty good. Boy has a good strong kick.”

 

Allura frowned, looking to where Lance had curled in on himself, hands still clamped tightly over his ears to block out noise despite the fact that Pidge had turned off the speakers. 

 

“We need to be cautious,” she spoke quietly to the remaining paladins, “He is highly on edge...we need to try to subdue him without causing him to panic more…” Allura looked to the largest paladin, “Hunk, can you try to get out of his range of sight? We will try to distract him so that you can take hold of him.” 

 

Hunk nodded, “You got it Princess.” 

 

“Pidge, Shiro, Keith; do you three think you can keep his attention so that Hunk can get a hold of him?” Allura asked. 

 

“I think so,” Shiro nodded. 

 

“I don’t know if surrounding him like a wild animal is the best idea right now,” Pidge spoke in a hushed voice, moving into position nonetheless. 

 

“We really don’t have a choice,” Coran advised, standing straight once he was sure he hadn’t lost any of his teeth from the sudden kick to his jaw, “It’s either this or the poor boy could end up hurting himself even more….” 

 

“....Lance….” Keith decided to be first. Slowly with gentle steps, he moved closer to the other. He remembered the softness of the creature from the recordings. Lance hadn’t panicked then when he believed the creature to be his teammate. Perhaps…. “...Lance….it’s me….it’s Keith….” he stopped just inches from the other pilot, carefully kneeling down, hand outstretched towards the other. 

 

“No! No you’re not! No!” Lance’s eyes were shut tight. He curled tighter, back pressed so hard against the wall Keith was sure that Lance was trying to force his way through it to escape. 

 

“Yes. Yes I am,” Keith kept his voice steady and calm as he reached out, fingers brushing Lance’s cool cheek. 

 

He expected Lance to strike out at him. Keith was ready for that, sitting back on the balls of his feet, ready to move in case a fist or foot came flying in his direction. To his, and everyone’s surprise, Lance opened his eyes at the touch. The hands that touched him this time were warm, human. Not cold like the ones before that had tried to take him. 

 

“K-Keith?” it was like he was awakening from a night terror. There, but not quite all the way. 

 

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s me,” Keith nodded, both hands on Lance’s cheeks to make sure the other was looking at him.

 

Lance’s hands fell away from his ears, landing heavily at his sides. He was still breathing hard as he stared at Keith, blue eyes trying to figure out if what he saw before him was truly real or some type of illusion. Keith frowned a little at the sight. This wasn’t the Lance they knew at all. There was no joy, no upbeat attitude just….fear. 

 

“Hey, Buddy….” then Hunk was there, kneeling down beside Keith’s side, joined slowly by Shiro and Pidge while Allura and Coran waited not too far behind, blocking the way in case Lance were to rise and attempt to flee. 

 

“H-Hunk?” Lance’s voice cracked a little, “I….I…..” 

 

“It’s alright, Lance,” Shiro assured him, staying by Keith’s side. They had spaced out so that Lance wouldn’t become more panicked at the sudden enclosure of his personal space, but were still close enough that if he did panic again, they would be able to make sure he didn’t harm himself, “We’re all here for you.” 

 

“Can you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up?” Pidge held two fingers up a good distance from Lance’s eyes when he looked to her. His glossy eyes had her so concerned that something worse had happened than they had originally thought. 

 

“...Two….” Lance finally said after a moment, “T-two…” 

 

“Good,” Pidge forced a smiled, “You had us all worried…” 

 

Lance swallowed a little, looking back at all of them. The way he looked to them all, it was as though he was trying to figure out if they truly were who they said and not some imposters trying to force themselves upon him. After a moment or so of staring at them with those frightened eyes, Lance took a deep breath, attempting to stand. 

 

“Hey….easy….easy….” Keith had placed his hands back on Lance’s shoulders, “I don’t think you should be standing just yet….” 

 

“O...ok….” Lance was still breathing hard, still tense...but he had calmed some upon finding that those who surrounded him were of flesh and blood and not whatever the hell the thing had been back in the shower stall. 

 

Allura and Coran managed to get closer once they were sure that Lance would not try to lash out again or run. For a few minutes they all remained in a little group around the blue paladin, speaking to him softly, attempting to help him calm himself. It wasn’t until a distant sound came from one of the main control panels that Coran separated himself from the group, returning shortly with a more cheerful look on his face. 

 

“Paladins!” He stated quite chipper and loud, causing Lance to jump at the sudden change of volume in the room. “...Paladins!” he lowered his voice to a calmer tone, though the glee was still there, “I finally have some good news! One of the healing pods has just come back online!” 

 

“Good,” Shiro was the first to push himself to his feet, “Is it fully operational?” 

 

“The pod is good to go,” Coran nodded. 

 

“Then let’s get Lance into it as soon as we can,” Allura sighed in relief, “If nothing else, perhaps a bit of time in cryo-sleep will help his mind to rest.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


It had been easier than they had thought it would be to get Lance into the pod. After some calm coaxing and reassurance, Hunk had managed to lift his best friend back into his arms, holding him close to his chest as he had done before when escaping the infirmary’s bathroom to carry him to the medical bay in the chamber right beside the bridge. The healing pod was there when they had walked in, rebooted and ready to take on its newest patient. Pidge hovered at Hunk’s elbow as the yellow paladin placed Lance into the pod, constantly pushing on her glasses, a habit that only seemed to surface under extreme stress, as she helped to get Lance situated in what she considered to be the most optimal position for comfort and healing. 

 

“And this room is secure as well, right?” Keith was with Allura in the center of the room where the controls were located. “...no vents…?” 

 

“There are vents, but as I said before, Keith, the particle barrier covers this room ceiling to floor,” Allura assured him. 

 

Keith nodded, crossing his arms as he turned to look at the healing pod. The others had gotten Lance inside, moving away as Allura entered the commands, the glass of the pod closing around the blue paladin with a hiss. Lance’s eyes began to droop as the coolness of the pod overtook him, lulling him into a gentle (and hopefully dreamless) sleep. 

 

“How long will he need to be in there?” Shiro questioned, watching as the pod scanned over Lance’s body, portraying his vitals along the front part of the enclosure. 

 

“At least a few vargas,” Coran took Allura’s place at the control pad for the pods looking over the feedback from the one holding Lance, “Maybe a little longer depending on what types of wounds he obtained during the accident.”

 

“So what’s our plan then?” Hunk asked beside Shiro, eyes still watching his sleeping friend from behind the glass, “Do we just camp out in here and wait or…?”

 

“No. As much as I know all of you do not wish to leave Lance’s side after everything that has happened, we still have those things running amok in the castle that need to be dealt with,” Allura informed them, “We need to plot a course of action and take it before things get even more out of hand.”

 

“Allura is right,” though it pained him to leave one of his own under such circumstances, Shiro knew what had to be done as leader, “We need to deal with these creatures, whatever they may be. While we don’t know much about them right now, I think we know enough that we should be able to beat them at their own game.” 

 

“If by that you mean sending me into the vents to flush them out, I’m giving you a solid no right now,” Pidge arched a brow, “No way.”

 

“While that’s a good idea, no. I’m not sending you in the vents, Pidge,” Shiro shook his head, “But I have a feeling that they will come to us eventually. We have something that they want.”

 

Hunk frowned, “Lance.” 

 

“Right,” Shiro’s eyes were stern as he looked over the group in front of him, “For whatever reason, these things are after him. They tried to take him twice already and I am positive they are going to try again.” 

 

“Wait, hold on!” Keith moved over to Shiro to stand before him, “You’re saying we should use Lance as bait to draw them out? Shiro-”

 

“Lance is well protected in here, Keith,” Shiro cut Keith’s objection short, “Besides, we’re not just going to leave him in here alone. One of us can stay in here with him to monitor him and be sure that he is safe while the rest of us flush these things out. But sooner or later they are going to try and come for him again. The first time they tried you interrupted them. The second time they became more aggressive when Hunk got in the way. From that pattern alone we can only guess that they will attempt it again while he’s in here.”

 

Keith’s fists clenched a little. He didn’t like the idea of anyone being used as bait to draw out an enemy, but Shiro was right. Staying as one large group in the medical wing with Lance would do them no good. It would leave them as sitting ducks, not to mention it could be dangerous for Lance. If those creatures were able to infiltrate inside somehow and pull him from the pod before its healing capabilities had managed to finish...well….that had never happened to any of them before. The consequences could possibly be deadly. 

 

“I advise we suit up,” Shiro told the rest of the paladins, “Hunk was able to push one back, but from what he told us these creatures are strong. We’ll have better chances if we’re in our armor than trying to face them head on in regular clothes.”

 

“Go on and change, Paladins,” Coran spoke up from where he remained stationed in the center of the room with the controls, “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on Lance. I’ll keep you updated on any progress he makes inside the pod.”

 

“I am going to head back to the bridge and see if I can’t pull anything up from the current security cameras,” Allura advised, “These things may be undetectable by our normal scans and cameras, but maybe I can catch them while they’re on the move in another way; give us an idea of where to begin our search for them now that we know what we are looking for.”

 

The others nodded, heading their separate ways: the remaining paladins to the armoury to suit up while Allura headed back to the command bridge to begin her scouting. Coran watched them go, hands clasping behind his back as he solemnly walked over to the healing pod, stopping in front of it to gaze up at the sleeping pilot within. His eyes read over the schematics of Lance’s body as the pod slowly did it’s work, glancing away from the readings momentarily to the boy’s hands. They were calmer now behind the glass, only moving ever so slightly every few seconds, tapping gently against the metal behind him. With a heavy sigh, he looked up at Lance’s sleeping face. 

 

“Don’t worry, lad,” he spoke to him in a reassuring tone unsure whether or not the other could even hear him within his cryo-sleep, “We’ll all make it through.”    

  
  


* * *

  
  


“There are four of them.” 

 

After dawning their armor, bayards ready, the remaining four paladins had regrouped on the bridge with Allura, watching the screens as the Altean royal brought up a schematic of the entirety of their ship before them. Knowing quite well that their strange visitors could go undetected by normal means, Allura had changed up how she searched, utilizing infrared and motion detectors in lieu of the original scans for unwanted lifeforms that she and Coran had used before. The search had proven profitable as now they viewed the holographic map, gazing at the red dots that littered it in various positions around the castle. 

 

“Four?” Keith stepped up to the holo-screen, peering at the unmoving dots, “...They don’t seem to be moving…” 

 

“That does concern me as well,” Allura waved her hand, enlarging the areas where the dots had been located, “But these have to be the same...things….that you and Hunk encountered before, Keith,” she looked down to him from where she stood upon her raised podium, “...Again, I am so sorry-”

 

“No. No apologies,” Keith shook his head, “I know you never doubted me, Allura. I trust you...and I know you trust me….”

 

Allura smiled softly, giving Keith a nod before her features turned serious once more, raising her hands to the screen to lock in the positions of the dots, “According to the readouts, as shaky as they may be due to the castle rebooting, whatever these beings may be, they moved to these four corners of the castle a little more than 30 dobashes ago and have remained there since.”

 

“That’s about the length of time its been since one of them came after Lance and I in the bathroom,” Hunk pointed out. “Did they all arrive at the same time, or can you tell?”

 

“One of them-” Allura slid her hand over to pull up the red dot that was closest to the bridge, “This one. It arrived later than the others. That must have been the one that was after you.”

 

“What could they be doing just sitting in these positions though?” Shiro mused, metal fingers tapping the base of his chin as he examined the layout. 

 

“I hope they’re not nesting like in that ‘Alien’ movie we watched back at the Garrison,” Pidge shivered as she slipped back into her control seat, opening her laptop. 

 

“Ugh. Don’t even joke about that, Pidge!” Hunk begged. 

 

Allura blinked in curiosity, looking to Keith and Shiro for an answer. The two just shrugged, not sure what the two were talking about themselves. 

 

“Sorry, Hunk,” Pidge gave off a nervous grin as she linked up with Allura’s systems, “If they are nesting though-” 

 

“Piiidge!!” 

 

“I said  _ if  _ Hunk!” Pidge rolled her eyes a moment, “ _ IF _ they are nesting though, that would be another advantage for us. Normally nesting creatures will protect their nests at all costs. It would be a great opportunity for us to flush them out one by one.”

 

“That is true,” Allura agreed, “If they are still in the vents I may be able to lock them down and keep them in one place long enough for you paladins to take them out.”

 

“I...don’t think they’re in the vents anymore though,” Shiro pointed out. He placed his human hand onto the holo-screen, the systems recognizing his signature, allowing him to move the schematic about, “See? This one is positioned near a vent, but it seems to be in the wall…” 

 

“This one too,” Keith followed Shiro’s lead, “It’s near an access vent but not in it. You could still lock off the vents that are near them, but that would just trap them in the walls.”

 

“Well that does make things a bit more difficult, doesn’t it?” Allura huffed a little. 

 

Hunk tilted his head, walking around the schematic as brown eyes looked it over, top to bottom, left to right, “Hey, Allura? Can you do an overlay of the Castle’s computer system on the map?”

 

“Of course, Hunk,” Allura nodded, fingers moving about to add the overlay onto the map, “Why? What is it?”

 

“Just...where these guys….gals...things are sitting….” Hunk mumbled to himself, finger reaching up to trace along the main computer console’s central hub located in the bridge. It spidered all the way throughout the map, some of the lines green to indicate they were functioning, other’s an off purple (Hunk could only guess that meant those systems were rebooting) and a few were red. Hunk’s finger followed along one of the red paths, eyes widening in realization, “Pidge….Pidge are seeing what I am?”

 

Pidge spun around in her chair, leaning forward a little before her own eyes widened, “Oh, hell…!” she spun right back around, fingers flying over her keyboard. 

 

“What-?” Allura’s question was cut off mid-sentence by a blaring alarm from the console, “What is going on?!” she brought up another screen as it flashed red, Altean words and numbers scrolling along it quickly, “Hunk! Pidge!” 

 

“Those things are all positioned at connection sites within the castle walls!” Hunk slid into his own control chair, bringing up his screens as he began to interact with the intrusion to the system, trying to counteract it, “They’ve been trying to get into the castle’s hardware!”

 

“What the hell are these things?” Keith moved over to Hunk’s chair as the other worked along with Pidge.   

 

“Are they trying to get through the inner particle barriers?” Shiro placed a hand on the back of Pidge’s chair as he watched her work. He was highly grateful to have the two skilled technicians on their team when situations like this arose. 

 

“It doesn’t seem like it,” Pidge leaned in close to her screen, windows clicking by at such speed Shiro was amazed that the other was able to follow them accurately, “Allura, what are your readouts saying??”

 

“I was able to pull up the coding that these creatures are trying to implant,” Allura brought the screen up so that Keith and Shiro could view it, as well as sending the information over to Hunk and Pidge for their eyes to scan, “The information is all gibberish though! I can’t read any of it!”

 

“That’s just hunky dory!” Hunk grumbled, “My Altean isn’t that great, so if Allura thinks it’s gibberish…!”

 

“Hold on!” Pidge leaned in closer to her screen as the information popped up, “Hunk! Hunk it’s binary!”

 

“What is binary?” Allura’s confusion was quite clear. 

 

“It’s a set of numbers that Earth computers use to communicate with one another and-SHIT!” Pidge’s fists slammed onto the arms of her chair as an alert flashed, “They broke through!”

 

“What did they access?!” Shiro questioned. 

 

“The inner particle barrier is still up and running!” Allura advised, doing a quick scan over all the functioning systems, “Life support is fine...weapons….what are they after??”

 

Keith turned to look back at the map, “Guys….guys they’re moving!” he pointed out. 

 

All eyes turned to the red dots on the map, each moving at such speed that it looked as if the map itself was glitching, one dot jumping from here to there in a blink of an eye. 

 

“They’re heading downwards,” Shiro had moved away from Pidge’s chair and back to the map, trying to chart where they were headed. “What are they doing?”

 

_ “The particle barrier covers this room ceiling to floor….” _

 

Keith paled slightly as he remembered Allura’s assuring words from earlier. Ceiling to floor. 

 

Ceiling. 

 

To. 

 

Floor. 

 

But nothing about down below…. 

 

“They’re after Lance,” were the only words that spilled from the red paladin’s lips as he dashed towards the bridge door. 

From that moment, things seemed to slow down in the eyes of the red paladin. He ran as quickly as his legs could carry him towards the medical bay. While it was right next to the bridge, it seemed as though it took an eternity for him to finally breach its doors, praying that he was wrong about his hunch. The scene before him made his blood run cold, though. The readouts on the medical pod were flashing red in altean, mimicking the binary gibberish that Pidge and Hunk had said had infiltrated the ship’s systems. Coran was at the control panel, doing his best to try and open the pod without causing any damage to its patient inside. And Lance….

 

Lance was awake. 

 

Violet eyes met blue as the auburn haired paladin pounded on the inside of the pod, begging to be let out. His calls for help were muffled by the thick glass, though Keith could hear his name being called once Lance caught sight of him. His bayard morphing into a sword, Keith rushed forward, intent on smashing open the pod if that was what it took to free his fellow paladin, eyes never once leaving Lance’s gaze; a gaze that turned quickly from shock and confusion to pure fear when the sounds of the machinery below the healing pod could be heard clicking and whirling. 

 

Lance’s hands pressed up against the glass of the pod. Keith swung his sword to break the glass….but came in contact with nothing as the pod gave out a hiss of air, swallowing the blue paladin down with it into the darkness below. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's mood/setting was inspired by artwork created by the highly talented asterein! (http://asterein.tumblr.com/) If you haven't seen their work already, it is heartwarming, emotional and absolutely gorgeous! They gave me permission to link the inspiration picture here (there are no spoilers attached!). Please go check out their work (especially their transparent pieces...they are wonderful!!)
> 
> I am not good at adding in links, so please, look at these magnificent pieces of work in order!
> 
> 1\. https://78.media.tumblr.com/a98e7d9b52e91a352b2687393906eb44/tumblr_ornnl1gEs61v849s5o1_1280.jpg
> 
> 2.https://78.media.tumblr.com/78a7ec32c26109296f934b404d7ba07e/tumblr_ornnl1gEs61v849s5o2_1280.jpg
> 
> 3\. https://78.media.tumblr.com/189ded4791075df92d62aed18dcc68b4/tumblr_ornnl1gEs61v849s5o3_540.jpg


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Their shadows lay, be night or day, and dark things silent crept beneath.” - The Hobbit; excerpt from Misty Mountains Song (Movie Version)

_ “Come with me Lance. I will keep you safe.” _

 

Gentle words from curled lips. Long fingers brushing against his cheek with a touch that felt of ice on his skin after a hot day at the beach. These were the last things Lance remembered before plummeting into a dreamlike state filled with fevered fears and calms, neither of which he could tell were real or figments of his own lost mind. He could barely recall the voices calling out to him, sincere and worry thick in their tone, followed by the unholy cry of someone...something...aching to reclaim him as its own. A strong embrace, a frantic heartbeat drumming in his ears, not his own but someone else’s. 

 

He remembered panic. A brief moment in which flashes of dread coursed through his veins sending a jolt of something through his body to force him awake (or perhaps only awake in his own mind’s eye) to lash out at the hands that touched him, only to slip back into the uneasy darkness moments later as the same, gentle voice that first lulled him into his pit of dreams coaxed his tattered nerves. From there his mind wandered aimlessly inside his skull, searching for a doorway back to the reality he knew, back to his friends who awaited him. Said doorway came in the form of flashing red lights and muted alarms...a feeling of dissipating coolness on his skin before his forehead bumped into a smooth surface causing his eyes to force their way open.

 

He knew where he was now, even before his eyes had a chance to fully focus he recognized his surroundings as a place he had been before. He was in a healing pod. 

 

Pressing his hands against the glass for support, Lance pushed his body to stand straight from where it had slumped him against the glass. Normally awakening from a healing pod wasn't so strange, there was always someone's arms to catch you as you fell forward...except this time. The glass had not vanished as normal but had remained, steady and sealed as red warnings flashed on its screen.  

 

Panic returned. 

 

Through the glass Lance spotted Coran at the controls desperately punching in codes as the alarms blared. Fear gripped at him. Lance's chest felt tight as he began to bang on the inside of the pod, calling out to the Altean advisor to let him out; begging him. The mirrored fear Coran gave him made his chest ache more as panic continued to rise in the pit of his stomach. 

 

He remembered the door behind Coran opening to allow in the red paladin, charging forward towards him with sword appearing in hand to attempt at freeing Lance by force if nothing else. Briefly he remembered yelling Keith’s name, a slight feeling of hope scratching its way to the surface….then quickly dying out when he heard the gears beneath his feet tick and twist. 

 

The last thing the blue paladin saw was the fear in those violet eyes before the floor opened beneath him, dragging him down into the darkness with a sickening hiss of air taunting him all the way down. 

 

It was here in the dark he waited, trapped within the confines of his new prison, one which had meant to bring a feeling of calm and safety to those within but now only held fear and dread. Lance wasn't sure how long it had been since he had been drug down into the darkness (minutes? Hours?), surrounded only by the sound of his own pounding heart and ragged breathing. For a short while the red flashing words on the front of the pod had provided some small relief from the surrounding dark but they too vanished, leaving only the dense cold glass which sealed him in. 

 

_ Breathe. Just...just breathe….!  _ Lance slid down against the curved backside of the pod, pulling his knees in close to rest his forehead a top them before taking a long breath. 

 

It wasn’t as if this was a first time occurence. He had been trapped in a pod before, back when the castle had been under Sendak’s influence, except at that time he had only been momentarily aware of his plight, flash frozen in a cold slumber to relieve him of any claustrophobic tendencies the pod’s storage area may have provided down in the dark. Being awake during said storage was, to place it mildly: terrifying. 

 

_ Let’s try to look at the bright side of things.  _ Lance stared down at his lap, eyes adjusting slowly in the darkness to allow him small glances of shapes within close range,  _ The pod is safe. There is oxygen and sure, I can’t get out but that means nothing can get in either. And the others will come. They wouldn’t just leave me down here….they won’t….they will come and get me out… _

 

But would they?

 

The thought hit him like a smack from a tree branch to the back of the head; sudden and with enough force to make his mind jolt.  _ Of course  _ they would come! Lance shook his head as he shut his eyes tight, trying to be rid of that nagging thought that had jammed itself into his mind. That was the darkness around him talking, filling his head with paranoia and nonsense. They were a team. A family. 

 

They would come. 

 

Taking another deep breath, Lance pushed himself to sit up straight, head pressed back against the cold of the pod, eyes still closed as he continued to try and calm himself. Everything would be fine. Perfectly fine. It was just an error from the ship rebooting, he told himself. Hunk, Pidge and Coran would have it sorted out in no time and he would be back safe and sound with his friends.

 

**_Tap...tap….tap…._ **

 

Lance’s eyes slowly opened at the muted sound just outside of the pod, “.....??” 

 

**_Tap….tap tap tap…._ **

 

It sound like footsteps in a way. Or...was it….?

 

Lance wasn’t sure when his hands had started to shake. He only noticed the trembling fingers when he lifted his hand up beside his head, allowing his knuckles to rap against the metal behind him, imitating the  _ tap tap tap  _ that he had heard just moments before. 

 

Silence. 

 

A shaky breath escaped his lips, “Shit….” his eyelids slid shut again in relief, “Shit…” another repeated breathy curse as he exhaled once more to try and calm the thumping in his chest. 

 

The silence of the darkness that surrounded him had to be playing tricks on him. There was nothing down here. There couldn't be. 

 

**_Tap tap tap._ **

 

Lance jerked away from the wall of the pod so fast he nearly slammed his face into the glass in front of him. Something was out there! Pressing his hands back against the metal, Lance forced himself to stand despite the tremors of fright running through his legs, making them feel more like tubes of jelly rather than skin and bone. Lance swallowed back the lump in his throat as he attempted to peer through the thick glass which sealed him in, trying for the first time since he had descended down into the pit to see out. 

 

The pod had brought him down through a rather claustrophobic metal tube which had an opening in it once it reached the bottom. No doubt, Lance assumed, for repair purposes for when the pods were brought down. The opening in the tube, however, provided no additional light source. The outside surroundings of the pod were just as dark as when he was being sucked down below. The cold wasn’t helping any either. With each panicked breath, the glass before him fogged more, causing Lance to have to wipe away his own markings in an attempt to better see. 

 

One advantage of being stuck down in the darkness, however, was that his eyes had managed to adjust some. While he could not see too far into the area before him, the blue paladin could at least make out some small details around him. There was a walkway constructed of thick metal, wide enough to allow two or more people to travel upon it at one time. It must have been an elevated walkway as there was a handrail running along side it vanishing into the shadows beyond. That alone filled the pit of his stomach with more dread. If the walkway was elevated that meant he wasn’t all the way down in the bottom of the ship; if anything went wrong or malfunctioned again, he could be drug down even deeper.

 

Lance swallowed again, mouth suddenly very dry at the thought of being pulled down even deeper into the darkness….alone….possibly forgotten…..

 

_ Stop it! Stop it!  _ Lance demanded of himself, hand reaching up to squeeze his own forearm, trying to pull himself back into reality and out of his living state of fear,  _ Focus! _

 

A deep breath (and a few good pinches to his own skin) later, Lance once again wiped the fogged glass of his breath, eyes widening in attempt to try and focus any and all light to peer out into the darkness once more. 

 

Nothing. No movement. Just stillness and silence like before.

 

He couldn’t have imagined what he had heard. It had been too loud, too close for all of it to be some paranoid creation of his mind. Lance chewed at his bottom lip a moment, weighing out options about whether his sanity was slipping or not before he made his decision. 

 

“Well…” he mumbled to himself, fingers releasing his forearm to move towards the glass, “It worked last time…” 

 

His knuckles wrapped against the glass, harder-louder-than before.  **_TAP! TAP! TAP!_ ** He did it once, twice, a third time. Part of him hoped that nothing responded, yet another part yearned for it. Anything to prove to himself that he hadn’t lost it. 

 

Again there was no response. At least not one that he could hear. Lance sucked in his breath as he saw it, swift movement in the darkness from below the walkway. A hand sliding it’s way up from underneath, out of the pit of black and into his vision, followed by a second hand...then finally the outline of a figure pulling itself up fully onto the walkway, standing tall as it looked towards his pod. 

 

“Fuck!” Lance pressed his back against the pod as the thing began to move towards him, the light tap tap tapping coming from its footsteps. 

 

There had been something skittering around in the dark...and he had led it right to him. Lance’s back pressed harder against the cold surface behind him, heart beating so hard he swore it was trying to escape his chest and leap out his throat. The creature moved slowly towards him, dark eyes glowing magenta in the blackness, it’s head tilting as a long finger lifted to the spot that Lance could only assume was its lips. 

 

“Shh…..” a hushed voice whispered in the back of his mind, “Hush now. Calm yourself, Lance….we’ve found you. We are going to take you somewhere safe before they come for you….” 

 

“W-we?” Lance’s voice cracked, eyesight becoming fuzzy as pain pulsed through his temples. His head hadn’t hurt before….why now? 

 

The thing moved closer to him, close enough now that Lance could begin to make out some features, though not quite all through his blurring vision. The thing was tall, shoulders broad and strides wide as it approached. While he couldn’t be completely sure, it looked as though it was wearing something...or was it an exoskeleton? The closer the creature came, the more Lance’s temples pounded. 

 

“Easy now,” the voice cooed to him again. It seemed to be….changing. From something foreign and frightening to something calmer….more familiar. But...what? “We’re going to get you out...then once you are safe we will handle the others.”

 

Panting, Lance’s fingers scraped against metal as he tried to grasp onto the flat surface of the pod’s wall to keep himself standing; an effort that was failing miserably since he could feel himself sliding back down. Despite it all, however, frightened blue eyes attempted to retain their gaze on the being on the other side of the glass. The long fingers of the being had reached up to press against the glass, the pod humming to life as a makeshift control pad appeared. Quick taps told Lance that something was being input into the pod; a command. 

 

“What are you doing?!” Lance winced as the volume of his own cry echoed in the pod, “GET AWAY!!”

 

“Calm down, Lance,” came the order, causing the Cuban pilot to freeze up at the sudden demand, “....We are going to keep you safe….” 

 

The pod gave a hiss as the fingers typed in the final command, sending a cold chill through Lance’s body. He felt tired suddenly. Tired and heavy. With a soft  **thud** he felt himself back on the floor of the pod, looking up now at not one being...but four. Lance’s head began to lull as the sudden weight spread through his body, eyelids threatening to shut and blind him from the waking world once more. 

 

No. No he would fight to stay awake! He had to… 

 

Another sound rang in his ears, this one more welcoming than any other he had heard thus far. The glass of the pod vanished, causing Lance to gulp in the fresh air once he felt it hit his face. He heard the shuffling of feet, felt the embrace of cold arms as they wrapped around him, lifting him from the ground. 

 

“No….” Lance tried to push against whoever had picked him up but found his arms too heavy to lift. 

 

“Easy now….it’s alright,” the cold embrace closed in around him gently, long fingers from a different hand running through his hair gently to soothe him, “You are safe now...we have you.”

 

Despite his want to stay awake, his instincts urging him to strike out against the cold touches, Lance's eyes began to fully close as he leaned against the chest of the one holding him, tensing slightly when he realized whatever held him had no heartbeat. Instead the normal  _ thump thump _ one would expect to hear was replaced by a low rhythmic ticking, one which lulled his aching mind into submission as he was carried away back into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter I know...and I am SO sorry. ;-; Work has been hectic and illness...I just wanted to get something out so that there wouldn't be such a huge delay between updates. I promise the next chapter will be longer...until then...well... *hides* Forgive me! 
> 
> This chapter was inspired by two images: [This lovely image by Onesmolhurt (Jaspurrlock)](http://onesmolhurt.tumblr.com/post/163062870364/losing-oneself) and [this lovely image by Asterein](http://asterein.tumblr.com/post/166262029551/they-need-you-you-know-click-the-image-it-is). These two artists have been a huge inspiration for me and highly supportive as I have worked through this story! Please give their tumblrs a look and provide support and positive feedback!! :3


	6. Chapter 6

One by one they awoke, arisen from a long and silent slumber by the hum of new life that coursed through their veins. They greeted one another, as eyes opened in the dark; lost friends found once more in their overdue awakening.

 

All but one.

 

Still and cold, lifeless eyes had opened just long enough to see the others standing before them eagerly awaiting their arrival back into the living world. Then had come the harshness of life, coursing death back through the beating mechanism that created its heart, causing it to go silent once more into that darkness.

 

A new feeling vibrated throughout the survivors upon finding the cold corpse of their companion, one which they weren't fully sure of at first. Rage...regret...sorrow...it flowed through all of them at once. Grief.

 

But not acceptance.

 

They removed the heart, gently placing their fallen companion’s hands upon their chest in a sign of peaceful respect. The body was gone, but the seed was not damaged: their friend could live again. They knew where to look for the new body to plant the seed….

 

Now they had found him. They would keep him safe until their companion could have life anew. They would be whole again.

 

* * *

 

Gone.

 

Lance had been right there, within reach of his arms, begging for safety and rescue….only to be pulled away down into the darkness by whatever things had been lurking in the forgotten walls of the castle. Keith remembered screaming Lance’s name as his sword sliced through thin air, denying him the ability to free his team mate; falling to his knees as the damned hole which had engulfed the blue paladin clicked shut, mocking him and his feeble attempts to be a hero. Keith had screamed again, striking out at the sealed cavern, sparks cascading as metal struck metal, before the sword faded back to its original bayard form, falling from Keith’s hand.

 

“Keith!” a gloved hand fell upon his shoulder, caring yet firm through the armor, “On your feet boy! Now is not the time to grieve over a loss that has not yet happened!”

 

Keith straightened up at the words of the Altean advisor, breaking from his minor bout of shock to quickly grab his fallen bayard and get back onto his feet. He turned to see Coran standing before him with a stern (almost angered) look upon his face. It was a look that Keith had never seen on the normally chipper man.

 

“Coran?!” the door beyond the older Altean came whooshing open as Allura, followed closely by the other paladins, came rushing into the room, “What happened?! Where is Lance?!”

 

“I’m afraid we’ve come across a problem, Princess-” Coran began, only to halt as the red paladin took a step forward.

 

“They took him!” Keith pointed down at the sealed passage beneath his feet with his bayard, anger bubbling back into his voice, “Those things-whatever they are-pulled him down there while he was in the pod and sealed the hatch! We have to go after him!”

 

“What?!” Hunk pushed his way to the front of the small group, eyes wide and face pale when he found the pod gone. Hands clenched into fists, the yellow paladin took up his bayard, morphing it quickly to the large hand cannon he wielded so effortlessly, “Move!”

 

“Hunk what are you doing?!” Pidge hooked her arms about her larger friend’s bicep, pulling him back slightly.

 

“Keith said those things have Lance!” Hunk’s voice was filled with nerves and concern for his best friend, “We need to get down there and the quickest way I see is right through there!” he pointed at the sealed hatch near Keith, “And if it won’t open for us, then I am going to make it open!”

 

Keith stepped aside with a nod to the taller paladin, “Do it.”

 

Hunk hoisted the cannon a little to better his aim, the hum of the alien weaponry beginning to fill the room as it readied its charge, only to stop as Shiro stepped into the way quickly.

 

“Whoa! Whoa hold up there!” Shiro’s eyes were wide, hands held out towards the weapon, “We don’t know for sure if Lance is all the way down or if the pod is trapped mid way!” he added in when the weapon was not immediately lowered, “I want to get to Lance just as much as you do, but fire that now and we stand the chance of hitting the pod with Lance still in there!”

 

Hunk hesitated for a moment, heavily contemplating the words that his leader had said in comparison to the actions that he wanted to take, before his weapon flashed back into the yellow bayard grasped tightly in his hand. Shiro felt a moment of relief wash over him. For a brief instant he was worried the yellow paladin’s large heart would overwhelm his more logical senses, but they all knew Hunk better than that: he cared deeply for his friends, he would do anything to protect them and keep them safe and he would be sure to do so in a way where it would not put anyone in danger.

 

“We’re going to get him back, Hunk,” Shiro assured him.

 

“Indeed we are,” Coran agreed sternly, “We need to move quickly, though. The pod will have arrived down in the engineering bay by now which means those creatures won’t be far behind it.”

 

“I’ll get the doors unsealed to the lower areas of the castle,” Allura piped up quickly, “Once they are opened we can-”

 

“Not you, Princess,” Coran interjected sternly, “You’re not coming this time.”

 

“I beg your pardon?” Allura stepped forward, shock evident on her face from Coran providing her an order, “I am just as capable as anyone on this ship of helping!”

 

“I know you are,” Coran’s tone softened only slightly as he moved forward to meet her steps, “But we need eyes in the control room to alert us of what can’t be seen. From what we have experienced with these creatures an unseen attack is to be expected and we will need to be one step ahead of them,” he took her hands gently in his own, giving them a firm squeeze, “The castle responds to you. You know its systems inside and out. If anyone can give us that upper hand it’s you.”

 

Allura chewed her bottom lip a little at Coran’s words, “You’re right, Coran….”

 

A brisk nod from the older Altean, “As for myself, I’m going down with the Paladins. I know the layout and physical workings of this castle like the back of my hand. With your lead from the control room, my knowledge of the machinery and the Paladins’ might, we’ll have our blue boy back in time for supper.”

 

* * *

 

The trip down to the lower regions of the castle was painfully long. Or, at least, it seemed that way to the impatient (mostly worried) Paladins. The shoot down was quicker than any elevator the earthlings had taken back on their home planet, yet it seemed like eons before the creaking compartment settled where it needed to be, opening its doors to allow them to step out into an area so dark it seemed like another world. Pidge and Hunk had ventured with Coran before down into the lower bits of the castle, but never down this far. The air that brushed against their faces as they stepped out onto the metal floor was cold, smelling heavily of dust while the silence….

 

The silence was deafening.

 

“Coran, Paladins, can you hear me?” the sound of Allura’s voice through their communicators, effectively breaking the dead sound, startled them all.

 

“Yes, Princess,” Coran gave out a heavy sigh, hand on his chest to try and calm his beating heart, “Loud and clear. Do you have a lock on our position?”

 

“Barely,” came Allura’s reply, some static cutting in and out as she spoke, “I managed to pull up some of the cameras from down there but it’s too dark to actually see anything, so I am relying on the heat scans to help me follow your position. I’ve gone ahead and sent the schematics of your area to the Paladin’s armor in case any of you get split up.”

 

“Roger that,” Pidge was the first to upload the map onto her wrist comm, eyes scanning it quickly to pinpoint not only where they were, but where they were headed as well, “According to this map, the engineering bay where the healing pods are stored should be straight through there,” she pointed ahead into the darkness.

 

“I think I may be able to turn on the lights down there,” Allura advised, “Would that help?”

 

“Negative,” Shiro spoke up, “If those things are here we don’t want to give away our position.  Keep your hand on the switch though. We may still need the light in the future.”

 

“Understood,” Allura took a breath to calm herself, “I’ll keep you posted if I see anything coming your way, Paladins, Coran. Keep communications open.”

 

“Ten four good buddy, will do!” Coran nodded, receiving a weird look from some of the Paladins.

 

“Heh. Lance and I taught him that,” Hunk grinned.

 

“Explains it,” Keith patted Hunk on the shoulder, “All right. Let’s get over to where the pod is and get Lance out of here. The sooner, the better.”

 

“Right,” Coran nodded, tapping a spot on his shoulder to turn on the light he had brought with him, other hand resting on the blaster that he had brought as well (no one questioned where he had gotten it), “Lights on then. Follow me.”

 

The others followed in line behind Coran, footsteps weighing heavily on the aged metal below their feet. With the way their steps were echoing it was easy to tell that they were on some type of walkway. A few times, out of sheer human curiosity, they dared to look down over the handrails set to keep them from walking off the ledge, the pits of their stomachs dropping when the light that shone from the shoulders of their armor barely pierced through a darkness that held no bottom.

 

“Coran...how far down in the castle are we exactly?” Hunk quickened his steps to catch up with the advisor.

 

“A good ways down,” Coran mused, “I’d forgotten exactly how large this place was myself. King Alfor designed it to hold hundreds: doctors, scientists, soldiers, civilians…” he shook his head, “A small city built for space. Back in its glory days, this area would have been full of people hustling about doing their work…”

 

“I would prefer busy people over creepy darkness any day,” Hunk shivered a little when the wind from outside caused the aged metal of the ship to creak and shift.

 

“As would I, Hunk,” Coran gave a solemn nod before coming to a halt, hand held up to signal the others to cease their steps, “Hold it a tick,” the tips of Coran’s ears twitched a little upon hearing something other than the wind of the storm outside.

 

Footsteps fell silent as they all paused at once on Coran’s signal. The creaking and whining of the ship surrounded them still, accompanied by a more unnatural sound of tapping footsteps in the darkness. Shiro moved forward, looking forward into the black up ahead. Before them they could barely make out the shape of tube descending from up above down onto a thick octagon platform surrounded by the metal walkways jutting out into all directions. From where they were standing they could just hardly see the single healing pod resting at the base of the tube.

 

“Is that the engineering bay?” Shiro asked quietly, making sure to keep his voice low just in case there were any unwanted ears listening.

 

Coran gave a brief nod, “That would be the central hub up ahead. When we had the capacity, we would send any healing or holding pods there to have them repaired.”

 

“Allura,” Shiro spoke quietly into his comm, “Is anything showing up on the scanners?”

 

“Negative,” Allura's voice replied, “The only heat signatures coming up are you paladins and Coran.”

 

“What about from the pod?” Keith questioned, “Can you tell if Lance is in there still?”

 

“...again….negative….” concern filtered into Allura’s steady voice, “I am hoping that is due to interference from the pod itself and not….”

 

“Keep your eyes open, Princess,” Coran took up his own communicator, trying to quell out the worry that was slowly beginning to spread through the group, “Any movement you see let us know.”

 

“Right,” Allura could be heard taking a breath, “You’re in the clear as it is, but watch your step down there. The Castle is sturdy as a ship, but I cannot say the same about the regions down below that we have not yet had time to fully take a look at.”

 

“We’ll be careful,” Shiro made the promise before gesturing the group forward with his hand, “Move out.”

 

Silence cascaded over the small group once more as they walked forward into the oncoming dark. Closer they came, the tapping that they had heard earlier all but a whisper in the darkness as the large metal tube concealing the healing pod became clearer in their view. Trained paladins as they were, a sense of urgency crept its way up their spines as they drew near, once slow steps gradually picking up pace until they were in an all out run heading towards the oncoming healing pod. Pidge had managed to push her way to the front of the group as they came upon the central hub of the engineering deck, dread pooling in her stomach as she approached the pod.

 

The empty pod.

 

“No….” Pidge’s body tensed in anger, be it at herself for not being quick enough or at the creatures themselves for arriving first, “We're too late!”

 

“Son of a bitch!” Keith’s jaw tensed as the words escaped, “How did they bust it open?”

 

“I don’t think they did,” Hunk was surprisingly calm as he poked his head into the empty healing pod, looking for any clues that may lead them to where his best friend had been taken, “I think they just….opened it and took him.”

 

Pidge took a breath, looking to Hunk. She knew he was just as upset as she was, maybe more. Hunk was an emotional man; it was one of his best qualities and why he and Lance were able to get along so well. She may not have known him as long as the missing member of their trio had, but she knew him well enough that when Hunk was solemn, calm; it meant the anger was building beneath the surface, like a volcano readying itself to erupt. Adjusting her glasses, she joined Hunk in his search of the pod, looking for anything that may give them a clue as to what may have happened.  

 

“Hunk’s right,” Coran had made his way over to join the two at the pod, fingers ticking away on the side panel to access the pod’s command history, “They just opened the pod right up.”

 

“But how?” Shiro was standing guard, eyes peering into the surrounding darkness in case of an oncoming attack, “Those pods shouldn't open for anyone who isn’t authorized in the castle’s systems. How could they have possibly opened it?”

 

“Probably the same way that they brought the pod down here in the first place,” Keith had taken his own position on the opposite side of Shiro, making sure that they were covered from both sides while the small investigation was taking place, “Those things probably hacked into it.”

 

“Not according to this,” Coran’s voice had taken a worried tone, “According to the pod’s command history, it was opened by a recognized signature.”

 

“There’s no one else on this ship but us,” Keith felt a chill run down his spine as he glanced momentarily back at the others.

 

“Does it say whose signature it was, Coran?” Shiro inquired, never once moving his eyes from the blackness ahead of them. He swore he had seen something move…

 

Coran’s fingers flew across the dimly lit panel on the pod, eyes scanning the screen as it ran through the hundreds of coding that had been implemented into its system. When it had finally landed on the coding, Coran gave a disgruntled ‘hmph!’.

 

“It doesn’t give me any specific name,” the advisor grumbled, “Just some gibberish that I can’t make out!” he smacked the side of the pod from frustration.

 

“Gibberish?” that caught Pidge’s attention. Moving out of the pod to allow Hunk to continue his search she joined Coran at the side panel looking to the screen. “Wait. These are the same Altean numbers that were flashing on the screen before...and...I think…” her hand went up to her comm, “Allura?”

 

“Yes, Pidge, I’m here.”

 

“Allura, can you send my armor that coding that the creatures used before? The one that was flashing in red?”

 

There was a moment or so of silence before Allura came back onto the comm, “I’m afraid whatever that was, binary I think you called it? It’s gone from the computer’s system.”

 

Pidge cursed, fist banging into the already beaten healing pod, “I thought maybe-”

 

“The tablet,” Coran had been looking at the command history again, at the signature that had been highlighted when it hit him, “Allura? Allura there should still be a tablet up there in number five’s chair. The one that had all that gibberish on it that Lance typed out before we put him into the pod.”

 

“Oh! Yes! I see the tablet. One moment. Let me get it!” Allura’s rushed voice was accompanied by the sounds of her quick and agile footsteps as she ran from her place at the controls to Pidge’s station in the control room.

 

“The tablet?” Pidge arched a brow, looking to Coran.

 

“It had something like this on it I believe. The Princess and I were trying to show it to you when everything went crazy,” Coran stated.

 

“I have it!” Allura’s voice came back onto the comms, “Sending it to you now, Pidge.”

 

Pidge raised her arm as the information Allura sent filtered onto the holoscreen from her armor displaying the Altean gibberish as it had been called. Pidge looked from the holoscreen to the side panel output, trying her best to compare the two. It was hard in Altean, she was still learning the basics, but she could tell that they were numbers just like before. Lifting her arm, Pidge overlayed the holoscreen onto the command history output.

 

“They match!” Pidge declared in triumph.

 

“That’s great!” Hunk’s demeanor perked up slight as he leaned over her shoulder to peer at the dual screens, “Now what does it say?”

 

“Give me just a second…” Pidge worked away on the holoscreen, doing her best to convert the Altean into numbers that she would be able to read easier, “There!”

 

Hunk arched a brow as the screen flickered, the once alien numerals changed over to a more Earthling friendly reading:

 

**01000101 01101001 01110100 01100001 01110010 0110111 01100101 01110011**

 

“What the…?” Hunk straightened back up, “That doesn’t make any sense…” 

 

Coran’s face fell. It still looked like nothing but random markings to him, “Well? Does it say anything?” 

 

“It does,” Pidge’s holoscreen vanished back into her armor, “But who’s Eitarnes?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First: I want to give a TREMENDOUS thank you!!! to Asterein for their magnificent [fanart](http://asterein.tumblr.com/post/170986177181/synergy) that they created! They are a highly talented artist and all around wonderful person! Give their [tumblr](http://asterein.tumblr.com/) a look and send them some positivity!
> 
> Second: I cut this chapter short. Why? Because there will be more to come.... >:3 I had a bad bout of writer's block, but it's over now....and we are traveling down the rabbit hole my pretties.


	7. Chapter 7

Faded visions flitted about the haze. Cold arms still embraced him, the almost melodious  _ tick tick tick  _ that hummed in his ears keeping him in a state of unwanted numbness. He wasn’t sure what was happening about him, who held him, if he was safe or in mortal danger. All Lance knew was that he was currently alive; though how long that would last his clustered mind could not begin to fathom. He knew he was being taken somewhere, to a place that familiar voices whispered in the back of his mind promised would be safe and warm: a place where he would be reborn again, and they would be whole once more. 

 

If he had been in his right mind, that promise would have been enough to blare alarm bells and send him fighting and kicking until he was free and able to escape his captors, no matter how caring their intentions seemed to be. As it was now, however, he could only attempt to move his numb limbs, let alone open his eyes more than just a squint, to try and figure out exactly what was to be done with him. 

 

How long they walked, how far they went into the depths of the castle was a mystery. Lance had barely been able to explore the normal areas of the ship when he was in his right mind and, part of him wondered as the squeaking sounds of gears pulling open a door echoed in the dark surrounding his senses, even if his body did begin to work again, would he even know where to run to escape? Head still swimming, he gagged when the foul stench of stale rotting air assaulted him from the open doorway. The hold on him lessened as he gasped to try and capture his breath, dark magenta eyes looking down to him as they halted within the new area. 

 

A hand reached up from behind him, long, cold fingers running through Lance's hair in a feeble attempt to calm him as the being who held him ventured a few more steps into the foul smelling room. Lance flinched away from the fingers instinctively, the wretched smell of whatever had rotted in the room acting as a natural smelling salt to pull his senses out of the black pit that he had been encased in. Eyes opening wider as his mind returned, consciousness fighting against those whispers hidden within his thoughts, Lance attempted to take in his surroundings, looking for a way out. As dark as it was, his eyes had managed to adjust just enough to be able to make out shapes here and there:

 

The room was of medium size, no larger than one of the common rooms up in the more friendly area of the castle where the Paladins would often rest their weary bones after a training session, but was much less inviting. Tables and shelves adorned most of the space, covered in dust and broken items of years long since forgotten. It reminded him of an old lab, one that he may have seen before when watching an old black and white horror film with Hunk and Pidge back at the Garrison. There were other tables as well jutting out from the darkness; long metal beds with thick banisters underneath to hold up whatever they had been designed to hold. 

 

It was to one of these beds that Lance was being brought to. 

 

The cold of the table chilled him to the bone despite the fact that he was wearing the pod suit; either that or his nerves had finally gotten the best of him, allowing just a glimmer of the fear that he had been hiding shine through on his features. His shivering was noticed by the large creature that had been holding him. It leaned down close to him, heavy hands laying gently on his shoulders in a strange act of...well...he wasn’t quite sure. 

 

“Calm…” the voice that purred from the lipless face cooed out to him. It was so….familiar…. 

 

“...S….shiro?” Lance’s voice cracked as he spoke the name. His throat was dry, hollow. Why did this thing sound like Shiro?

 

“Calm…” the voice said again before those magenta eyes looked towards the other shapes that had followed it into the room, “Help me get him ready.”

 

“Ready me for what?!” Panic shot through him, causing Lance’s body to tense as he pushed against those cold hands, “Let me up!”

 

“Calm down, buddy. We have you…” Hunk. That was Hunk. No….not Hunk...but his voice.

Golden eyes shined from the dark beside him, another set of hands joining the first upon his shoulders as they held him down firmly while at the same time attempted not to harm him.  

 

“You’re safe now,” Oh God. Pidge. He was hearing Pidge now. 

 

Lance’s heart began to race. Continuing to try and push up against the hands that held him, he turned his head to the side, watching the glow of emerald eyes as they searched through something on a shelf nearby. 

 

Insane. He had to be going insane….the shock he had gotten, the electricity that had surged through him during training, it must have done something to him! Lance took a deep breath of stale air, eyes shutting tight as he tried to cut out the voices. These weren’t his friends….this was a nightmare...this couldn’t be real!! 

 

“Lance,” Keith. Lance’s eyes snapped open, looking up to see ruby eyes staring down at him from above, that cold hand once again petting his hair, “We have you. We won’t let anyone ever take you from us again…” 

 

Lance’s breathing grew heavy as he watched the eyes of the forms that held him down. They didn’t seem to hold any malice towards him, rather their intentions (to them at least) seemed to be for the greater good. It was that greater good which had Lance worried. He pulled away from the cold hand stroking his hair, shoulders trying to push up again and be gone of these creatures’ touches. The emerald eyed being was coming back now, Lance could see their eyes getting closer in the dark, their silhouette the same as the others that were currently surrounding him. 

 

“Be still now,” fright ran through Lance when he heard Pidge’s voice echo in his mind, “This will only take a second.” 

 

“What are you doing?!” Lance jerked his head again as he felt something being slipped onto it: something heavy, metallic, tight fitting against his temples. He continued to shake his head, trying to shake whatever they were placing on him off, “Stop it!!”

 

“Hold him still,” the magenta eyed one ordered, Shiro’s commanding voice flowing out from it. 

 

The golden eyed being lifted one of his hands off of Lance’s shoulder to wrap its fingers about the bottom of Lance’s chin in hopes of stopping his head movements. Lance felt the pressure rise from his body...and decided to take a chance. Sucking in a quick breath, Lance heaved his body to the side to pull away from the golden eyed being’s remaining hand, kicking his legs around to give him the needed boost to quickly slide his way off the table. From that point on, he wasn’t sure what he was doing; Lance only knew he had to get away. He felt pointed nails scratch along his face as he moved, hoisting his body up off the table, shoving the magenta eyed figure with all of his might to send the other back (if nothing else by shere surprise that Lance had moved that quickly). 

 

Fingers dug into the pod suit from the falling creature who still held his other shoulder as his feet met the floor, instincts to flee automatically kicking in as he attempted to move himself forward. Lance felt the grip tighten, heard the pod suit rip as he demanded that his legs run, felt the skin on his shoulder tear as the claws from the creature bit into his flesh on reflex from its fall. For a moment his vision blurred...the familiar voices of false friends faltered, replaced by the annoyed (or were they concerned?) clicks and cooing from those behind him. Lance slapped himself mentally as he stumbled in the dark, colliding with the side of a wall before he was able to get himself back together. Catching his breath, Lance took a quick glance behind him: he had made it across the room at least; he could tell by the distance between himself and the glowing eyes that looked at him. 

 

The moving glowing eyes. 

 

Lance’s hands scrambled along the wall in the darkness, panic running through his body. Out...he needed out!! He could hear the clanking footsteps of the creatures behind him moving slowly, cautiously towards him in the dark. There. He found it! Lance’s hand pressed hard against the panel, hearing those creaking gears open again. He took no time in squeezing his way through the creaking door, feeling the brush of those cold fingers brush against his back as he did so. HIs body ached, sore from not moving, burning from still not being full healed from the electrocution…

 

But he ran nonetheless. 

 

He followed along the walls in the darkness, head ringing as a mixture of screeches and his friends voices, angered by his escape, hissed out from behind him. He didn’t care if they were calling for him to come back; he would rather be lost in darkness for eternity then return to whatever fate was awaiting him in that rotting death hole. He heard the klanging footsteps behind him, growing closer and closer. 

 

Tears stung the corner of his eyes as he pushed his body more, forcing his long limbs to move quicker, harder than he ever had before. In the back of his mind he knew he wouldn’t be able to outrun them, not in his current state but he would try! He rounded corners, trying to avert his pursuers any way that he could. And then...oh thank any diety that resided above! An opening! 

 

**_Klang klang klang!!_ **

 

Close. They were getting so close….! 

 

Lance lurched forward through the opening, grasping onto a thick railing as he stumbled over his own footwork, clinging to it as he realized it had been the only thing between himself and the pit that laid below. Catching his breath, Lance took a few steps back away from the railing to steady himself before he caught another wonderful sight from the corner of his eye: lights. Small and dim, little flicks shining like beacons in night calling out to him. 

 

Hope began to quell inside of him. Maybe he had a chance yet! Pushing himself from the guardrail, he forced his body onward onto the old metal walkway, only stumbling here and there as his body threatened to collapse on him. 

 

A cry escaped him as large hands reached out from the darkness, wrapping about his arms to pull him back. Those cooing voices began to slither their way back into his mind as he struggled, body being pulled back away from the lights ahead. No….No! He had been so close!! His back pressed up against the larger body behind him, dread returning as a hand snaked up along his neck…

 

Lance shut his eyes tight and screamed. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Who or what is Eitarnes?” Pidge asked again as she poked the side panel portraying the Altean binary codes, “And why would that be an access code for any of the ship’s systems?” 

 

“Eitarnes….Eitarnes….” Coran’s fingers twirled in his mustache a bit as he thought, “The name sounds familiar, but I just can’t place it…” 

 

“Is it really that important we figure this out now?” Keith asked, “Lance is gone and we have to find him!” he turned from where he had been previously guarding the walkway to face the others. 

 

“This ‘Eitarnes’ might give us a clue as to where Lance is,” Shiro turned as well, though only partially. He was wary to leave his back to the dark for too long, “The more we know, the better a chance we’ll have at getting him back and being rid of whatever these things are.”

 

“Number one is right. For all we know this ‘Eitarnes’ might be the one that took Lance,” Coran pointed out. He sighed, shaking his head, curled mustache puffing slightly on one side from where he had fiddled with it during his thoughts. 

 

“It has to be something,” Hunk spoke up, “What I’m more worried about is how Lance knew it…” 

 

_ Tap tap tap... _ **_klank! Klank! Klank!_ **

 

They froze in spot when they heard it, thoughts of the mysterious code fading quickly to the back of their minds. Footsteps; some heavy, some light, echoing about them in the darkness. Coran’s hand rested on his blaster as he listened, pointed ears twitching about here and there as the Altean attempted to pick up exactly where the sounds were coming from. 

 

“Allura,” Coran’s voice was barely above a whisper as they heard the steps begin to grow nearer, “Do you have anything on the scanner?”

 

Static came through in reply, Allura’s voice crackling and hissing as she attempted to speak. Something was interfering with their comms. 

 

Coran cursed in Altean under his breath (not wanting number five to pick up on another bad word yet again) before looking back to the Paladins, “Seems like we’re on our own, Number One.”

 

“So much for the plan,” Keith mumbled, bayard forming into sword as he shifted his stance, readying himself for anything that would leap out from the dark.

 

Dim glows shifted parts of the darkness as Hunk and Pidge’s bayards followed suit, the glow of Shiro’s alien prothstetic the only dim light remaining after the bayards had faded as they stood shoulder to shoulder in the waiting darkness. The footsteps began to get louder, the echoing making it difficult to tell exactly where they were coming from. Louder and louder still; their bodies tensed as they began to be able to pinpoint where the steps were coming from. 

 

“Easy,” Shiro held up his hand to signal the others to hold steady, “We have to be sure-”

 

The footsteps halted. For a moment there was silence….then came the scream. 

 

“LANCE!!” 

 

Any doubts or fears were tossed aside as Keith took off down the long walkway to their left where the scream had originated, Hunk and Pidge close on his heels once they had heard it. Shiro followed in suit, followed by Coran who had jumped at the scream, grasping his blaster from its holster as he ran. 

 

“Allura we need lights now!” Shiro demanded, throwing away the original plan of keeping their position a secret in the dark as he caught up easily with his team, the outline of struggling figures in the darkness becoming more apparent the closer that they came. 

 

While static may have been his answer, Shiro had been heard. Clicks and buzzing could be heard all around them as the lights began to fizzle to life one by one, though not all were in complete working order; flickering off and on here and there to only illuminate a portion of the dark at a time. The run down the walkway became more like entering the flashing lights of a fun house. Despite this, it provided enough light for them to see what they were running to: 

 

They saw Lance, pod suit torn at the shoulder and stained red from the claw marks that ran along his skin. The blue paladin’s eyes were shut tightly for the time being, the glimmer of faded metal pressed against his temples flashing in the lights as they attempted to light the area, opening wide when he heard his name called out. He was thrashing as best he could against the creature holding him, scream cut short by the long, curled fingers that had wrapped around the bottom of his jaw to silence him. The body that held him was large, easier taller than Hunk and twice as broad, long arms wrapped tightly about the leaner paladin in its clutches. It’s skin (if one could call it skin) was flaking in places, revealing a rust-colored skeletal shape beneath. Through the larger gaps of missing skin something could be seen pulsating lightly, wrapped around the inner workings of whatever this thing was. 

 

Dark magenta eyes glowed dimly, the skull encasing around the eyes cracked, the joints clicking as a low growl hummed from it. It held Lance closer to it, moving back away from the group as they rushed towards it in the flashing lights, retreating back towards the doorway that it had just emerged from, pulling the blue paladin back with it in an attempt to keep its prize for itself. Lance was having none of it, his feet planted firmly on the ground as he managed to turn his head enough to free his jaw from the curled fingers. 

 

“HELP!!!” a desperate, hoarse plea.

 

“Lance! We’re coming!” Hunk cried out, his bayard morphing from hand cannon to its original form as he quickly hooked it back to his side, “Pidge!”

 

“Do it!” Pidge leapt back towards Hunk mid run, bayard clenched tightly in her fist. 

 

Hunk continued to run, hands cupped to catch Pidge’s feet, propelling her forward into the air the moment her heels made contact with the help of the jetpack on her armor. Keith caught onto the drill when he heard the others behind him, stepping to the side just in time to let Pidge fly past him. With a cry Pidge pulled her bayard back in her hand, ready to strike a blow to the head of the creature holding Lance, when a screech came from out of the remaining shadows, another creature emerging to tackle Pidge back. Caught off guard the green paladin slammed back into Keith who, seeing the other fly back so quickly, had opened his arms to catch her and take the blow, charge coming to a halt as they both slammed back into the surrounding arm rail. 

 

“Are you two all right?” Hunk skidded to a halt beside them, Shiro and Coran right beside him. 

 

“Fine, fine,” Pidge nodded, straightening herself once Keith had helped her to her feet, glaring daggers at the creature that had knocked her back, “Looks like we have more company.” 

 

The emerald eyed creature that had knocked Pidge back had steadied itself as well, standing guard before the first as the others emerged as well, eyes of gold and ruby glaring down the paladins where they stood. They stood shoulder to shoulder, each one seemingly more decrepid than the first, creating a barrier between the group and their attempt at rescuing their teammate, angered hums and clicking coming from somewhere within their rotted bodies.

Keith growled, their own group shifting to face the creatures before them, “We have to get to Lance!”

 

“That seems to be easier said than done,” Pidge pointed out. 

 

“Shiro, what’s the plan?” Hunk’s eyes were dead set on the things before him. 

 

“If we charge forward we might have a chance to break through them,” Shiro mused, “But we have to be careful. This walkway isn’t that wide. We need a way to distract them enough so one of us can make it past to get to the one holding Lance!”

 

“Leave the distraction up to me, Number One,” Coran nodded to Shiro, “I’ll make sure to get one of you a clear path-” 

 

Another scream came from beyond the barrage of creatures, Lance’s body tensing and jerking in the grasp of the one that held it. The hand of the creature was on Lance’s forehead, the metal band that had been pressing to his temples sparking just as the mind melding headband had been before when lightning had struck the castle. The eyes of the creature were pulsating with a dark light as it crooned softly to the Cuban, arms holding him tight as his body convulsed in its arms. It all happened in the single breath of a second, sending the Paladins charging forward to collide with the three large corpses that had charged forward as well (almost as though they were in sync with them) plan or no plan. 

 

The lights continued to flicker above as the battle commenced on the rickety walkway below them; Paladins against unknown creatures, each one fighting for the same goal: to win the life of the blue paladin. Coran made sure to keep a short distance as the small battle raged on before him, blaster out and aimed towards (what he assumed) was the leader of the strange beings that had emerged from the depths of the castle, trying his best to get a clear shot at it to (hopefully) make it drop Lance long enough for one of the other paladins to get to him. 

 

“What the quiznaking hell are these things?!” Pidge called out, dodging a flying tackle from the emerald eyed monstrosity that had decided to take her on again. 

 

“Whatever they are-” Hunk slammed his shoulder into the chest of his golden eyed opponent, ignoring its gutted screech as it stumbled back, “-they’re tougher than they look-oof!!” back he went as he was tackled down. 

 

“Does anyone have a clearing yet?!” Shiro called out, attempting to help divert the golden eyed demon that had knocked Hunk back, stepping to the side as sharp claws swiped at his head. 

 

“If I could just-!” Keith was running backwards, away from the quick strikes that came from the ruby eyed monster, “A little help anyone?!” his bayard morphed into a sword just in time to block the claws aiming for his eyes. It was times like this they really needed their sharpshooter… 

 

“On it!” Coran shifted his aim quickly, seeing how he could create his own gap for his troops and opened fire. 

 

One shot, then two slammed into the shoulder of the red eyed creature that had been pressing down on Keith, pushing it back enough for the red paladin to pull his sword away and slide beneath the larger thing’s legs, making his way towards the one holding Lance. 

 

Keith heard the angered clicking behind him, felt the heavy footsteps of the creature as it steadied itself and turned to pursue him. Keith was quick but its strides were longer. Keith could feel its cold, sharp claws brushing the back of his neck as he picked up pace.

 

“Oh no you don’t!” Shiro slammed his entire weight into the side of the creature, thrusting it into the handrail hard enough to cause a dent in the metal, “Keith! Go!!” 

 

Keith gave a quick nod over his shoulder to Shiro before turning his attention back to the goal ahead of him. The dark eyed monstrosity that held Lance had continued to drag the other back during the scuffle between its companions and the paladins, managing to move back far enough that it had almost reached the doorway behind it. Lance seemed to have given up his struggle at this point, body hanging limp in the thing’s arms. Keith knew if he missed this opportunity, the thing would vanish back into the depths of the castle again with the blue paladin; but a realization ran across his mind as he grew near: how would he get the creature to drop Lance without hurting the other in the process? Any strike with his sword to the creature would end up slashing Lance as well… 

 

The sound of a blaster firing from behind caught Keith’s attention, the quick streak of light burrowing a hole smack dab into the cracked skull of the living corpse that held Lance. Keith had to fight the urge to cover his ears at the heart wrenching shriek that emerged from somewhere within the being as it stumbled, arms unwrapping from around Lance. A second blast to the shoulder sent the creature stumbling back more. 

 

“HURRY!” Coran’s voice commanded from behind as a third shot was fired, once again striking the creature in the shoulder, trying to keep it back as Keith charged forward to scoop Lance up into his arms. 

 

“Lance?” Keith was strong but Lance was lengthy; it took some effort to pick him up into his arms but the red paladin managed to drape one of Lance’s arms over his shoulder to keep him up, “Lance are you all right?” 

 

There came no response; just shaky breaths in quick gasps, the aged metal band about Lance’s forehead pulsating still against his temples. Keith wanted to pull it off and toss it over the railing, but as it was if he tried he would drop Lance. He had to do what was best first. 

 

“It’s ok. I’ve got you,” Keith told him, arm wrapping around Lance’s waist tightly as he began to make his way back towards the others, “We’re going to get you out of here.”

 

Another few shots sounded from Coran’s blaster as the Altean made his way through the scuffle still raging on the walkway. While not all of the shots hit their intended target, it was more the advisor’s intention to keep the angered creature away from Keith and Lance as much as possible. 

 

“Here, let me help,” Coran had managed to make it over to Keith, lifting Lance’s other arm over his own shoulder, “Let’s get him back to the lift. Quickly now!”

 

Keith nodded. The others were still fighting back the creatures, trying to create them a pathway through. It would be difficult but the other paladins seemed to be making a stand, keeping the creatures at bay while Keith and Coran did their best to maneuver about with their injured friend between them. 

 

It was an absolute madhouse!

 

The lights continued to buzz and flicker above them as the sounds of metal clashing against who knew what echoed around them, war cries and ungodly screeches embedding themselves in the subconscious of Keith’s mind as he attempted to move quickly yet carefully with Lance in his arms. Coran was doing his best to help guide them both, pulling them and pushing them in directions as unearthly growls sounded their way. They could hear the cries of their friends as they fought the creatures back, buying them time to finally make it to the open doors of the lift. 

 

“In! Quickly! Quickly!” Coran removed Lance’s arm from around his shoulder, helping Keith to steady Lance against him, “Get up to the control room. I’ll have Allura waiting with medical supplies.”

 

“Wait, aren’t you coming with us?” Keith asked, glancing past the altean momentarily towards Hunk body slamming into one of the creatures as it tried to crawl its way towards the lift, “Coran I don’t know how to run this thing!”

 

“Up, down,” Coran pointed at the buttons on the wall panel, “You’re going up. I’m going to stay down here and help the others distract those things,” he held up a hand as Keith began to protest, “I’ll take the Paladins to the other lift. It’s not far from here. Go! Get Lance to safety!” he hit the button to shut the door, turning just in time to begin opening fire on the ruby eyed demon that had broken through the paladins’ defenses. 

 

“Coran!” Keith jerked forward as the doors to the lift slid shut, stomach dropping as the lift began to ascend, “Shit…” he swallowed a little, shifting Lance in his hold. 

 

Keith continued to stare at the door a few moments more before he finally remembered the shape the blue paladin was in. Being as gentle as he could, he lowered himself and Lance to the floor of the lift, leaning the oher back against the side. 

 

“Oh God…” Keith frowned. 

 

It was worse than before. Lance’s skin had paled (be it from the loss of blood from the large scratches on his shoulder or something else Keith couldn’t be sure), lips an off grey color. His hands were no longer twitching but laying immobile at his sides. His eyes...oh his eyes...once a bright blue had fogged over, a thin film of white causing them to look like a darkened sky. Keith reached up to try and remove the metal headband from Lance’s forehead, pausing when he saw the dark veins cascading from underneath it down the side of Lance’s neck. No...not veins….something else....vines. Dark, thin, pulsating vines.

 

“What the hell did they do to you?” Keith moved some strands of auburn hair from those clouded eyes, “Lance….” 

 

“...eith…!!” the crackle of Shiro’s voice in his helmet comm grabbed the red paladin’s attention, “Ke…! Broke through...your way...out….!” 

 

Keith growled at the static as he stood to his feet. He hadn’t caught all of what Shiro had said, but from the urgency in the paladin leader’s voice he could take a guess at what he was trying to say. Quickly he took hold of his bayard, keeping it in its natural form for now as he turned to face the door of the elevator. There was limited space in the lift, Keith couldn’t risk forming his sword just yet in fear that he would accidentally strike his injured companion, but he would be ready for anything that came. The lift continued to move as normal, going up and up, climbing ever closer to the safety of the control room up above…

 

Just a few moments more…. 

 

Keith gave out a yelp as the lift jerked harshly, barely able to catch his balance as the grinding and screeching of gears echoed from outside the compartment. Swearing to himself, Keith pressed a hand to the wall to keep himself standing as the lift ground to a halt, creaking as it hung there suspended by the aging Altean technology that made it work. 

 

_ Fuck. _

 

Keith’s heart began to race as he heard the noise from outside: the sound of something scraping against the walls, digging into the metal as it climbed. The once welcoming lights inside the cabin had begun to flicker and Keith prayed they stayed on. It was bad enough he would have to fight this thing in such cramped conditions, he most definitely did not wish to do so in the dark. 

 

“Guys?” Keith spoke as calmly as he could into his comm, praying that whatever was causing the static in their instruments would not block his communication to his allies both above and below him, “Guys if you can hear me, I need help. NOW. I think one of those things is in the shaft….!” he winced as more static came back to him, then silence.  _ Shit. SHIT.  _

 

The clawing sound ceased outside, leaving Keith to try and figure out exactly where the creature would attempt to burst through. There were only two options: either the emergency exit at the top of the elevator, or the main doors that stood right before him. Keith’s grip tightened more on his bayard, knuckles turning white beneath the black gloves of his undersuit. Either way, he wouldn’t be going down without a fight. He wouldn’t let them take Lance away from him….not again. 

 

Creaks echoed through the small compartment. Keith stood vigilant, trying to pinpoint where the most sounds were coming from. Then gently he heard it, a soft hum coming from the outside near the door of the elevator. Soft and serene, like the melodious purr of a theremin, just as Hunk had described it when talking about what had happened to Lance before in the bathroom. The decrepit creature was out there all right, and it was calling for Lance.   __

 

The doors began to part, dark fingers spidering out from between the metal as the ancient metal groaned against the forced opening. Keith shifted in his stance, bayard aglow as it began to morph into his sword. Wider and wider….Keith could hear the hum grow louder with each inch of metal that separated, see the glowing red eyes as they glared at him from the darkness behind the doors…. 

 

Keith was barely able to get out a gasp as he was grabbed from behind, slammed back hard into the back wall of the elevator, bayard falling from his hand in half formation, clattering to the ground at his feet, helmet knocked off when he hit the surface. Standing before him on shaking legs, hands pressed tight against his shoulders to pin Keith back against the wall, was Lance. Clouded eyes stared at him (or rather through him), the dazed blue paladin pressing harder as Keith tried to push him back. 

 

“Lance?!” Keith didn’t think the other would have enough strength to move his pinky finger let alone move as quickly and quietly as he had done, “Lance what are you doing?!” 

 

Lance’s lip twitched a little as the red eyed figure clicked and hummed behind them, the door nearly all the way open to let it inside. Slowly the Cuban’s head tilted to the side (Keith suppressed a shudder when he swore he could hear Lance’s neck popping a little), leaning in close to him, his breath heavy, labored even, as though each movement was more painful than the last. There was one final  _ screeee  _ as the doors to the elevator were pushed all the wall open, the loud thumping of heavy feet when the creature stepped inside. It was over to them in less than two steps, those long fingered, skin flaked hands sliding around Lance’s waist as a deep purr emanated from it. 

 

Keith began to feel the pressure of Lance’s hands against his shoulders falter as the creature began to pull him away. Clouded eyes met violet as the lights began to flicker more above them, the elevator creaking and shifting…. 

 

A cold hand slipped from Keith’s shoulder over to his cheek, brushing against it gently as the blue paladin was being pulled away. 

 

“Keith….”  Lance opened his mouth to speak. The words came out forced, as though his own vocal chords were choking him.

 

“No!” Keith moved forward to grab onto him, to pull him back into his own arms away from the creature. 

 

As soon as he moved, the elevator lurched, groaning beneath his feet as it shifted. Above him the lights flickered, sparking before they burnt out, cascading darkness into the cramped quarters. Keith felt Lance’s touch leave, heard the purring clicks of the creature as red eyes retreated back out the doorway, rocking the elevator more. 

 

“...find me…” 

 

One final groan of the machinery, one final shift of weight as red eyes vanished into the abyss, was all the warning given before the elevator plunged down into the darkness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter inspired by this [extremely awesome piece of artwork](http://onesmolhurt.tumblr.com/post/169318499869/the-first-piece-that-i-drew-for-the) by [onesmolhurt](http://onesmolhurt.tumblr.com/)! 
> 
> Bye! *burrows under rock*


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Those who fought for something better, those who taught by how they lived...loved ones taken long before their work was done…” -Assassin’s Creed Syndicate - Underground

“Paladins! Can you hear me?! Anyone please respond! Coran?!” 

 

Allura cursed loudly, fist slamming down onto the control center when static was her only reply. Minutes had passed since she had lost complete contact with her allies down below, startled voices and cries of battle being the last sounds to reach her ears before contact had ceased. Knowing that she could not remain in the dark about her companions’ well being for long, the Altean leader had turned her attention back to the heat scans of the area deep below her, trying to figure out exactly what was going on without contact. Allura wished for all that was holy in the universe that the cameras in the lower regions worked better. The moment that the lights had come on, the cameras had fizzled in and out allowing only a minor glimpse here and there of the small battle that was ensuing. 

 

The heat readings weren’t of any help either. Blurs of red cluttered the screen, blending together so fiercely that Allura could barely tell which shape was friend and which was foe (minus Pidge who was obviously the smallest red blob bobbing about the screen). Uttering another curse Allura turned from the controls, screens vanishing in her absence, heading back towards the elevator that had taken the others down earlier. Those were her friends down there fighting. She would not just stand by and let whatever those things were that had invaded their home attack anymore of her family! 

 

Grabbing a blaster from its case, Allura rounded the corner to where the elevator awaited her, hand slamming into the control panel to activate it and bring it to her. Surprise crossed her features, though, when the panel did not respond. Instead it gave out a minor beep! as wording flashed across it to advise that the elevator was in use...and malfunctioning. 

 

Allura frowned, “Never a good sign.” 

 

Making sure that the blaster was attached securely to her side, Allura pressed the panel again in hopes of accessing the controls to see what was causing the malfunction. She prayed that it was some minor detail, something easy to fix so that she would be able to quickly join her companions. It seemed like an eternity before the screen came back with its reports, a deep frown crossing Allura’s features when her eyes caught sight of the words  _ dislocated lift hydraulics  _ come across the screen in bold Altean lettering. While the royal knew that a large portion of the ship was indeed in need of repair, the lifts that connected the multiple floors of the ship were one thing that she had personally made sure worked properly. No, this wasn’t some mere malfunction caused by the unuse of an aging spacecraft. 

 

This was sabotage. 

 

Allura tried again to get the doors to open for her, angered when the panel flashed at her again stating that she did not have the proper authority and to wait until maintenance crew arrived to resolve the problem. Said maintenance crew, however, were currently down in the lower regions of the castle fighting against mystery creatures, and Allura would not be one to sit and twiddle her thumbs when there would be something she could do to help. Taking a deep breath to center herself, Allura closed her eyes momentarily, focused on shifting the size of her body to meet a standard that would be more adequate for what she was about to do. Seconds later, Allura’s eyes reopened and with as much might as she could muster she pushed her fists into the closed doors of the elevator, pulling apart of the locked sliding doors, a grin crossing her features as the safety lock snapped and the doors began to open easier with a whine of metal. 

 

“Oh hush,” Allura chastised the doors as she completed pushing them open far enough where she would be able to step through, “I’ll have Hunk or Coran fix that once this is all said and done….” 

 

Morphing back to her regular size, Allura held onto the side of the opened doors to steady herself before peering down into the elevator shaft. Darkness greeted her along with the stale air which wafted upwards to escape through the new opening. After a few moments, her eyes managed to adjust and she caught sight of sparks coming from a large mass down below. It was just close enough to see despite the blackness that shrouded it, yet far enough away that it would be out of her reach if she attempted to try and reach out to touch it. It was detached all right: the mechanisms which had been created to help the elevator glide seamlessly along its passageway had been broken in places, sparks from where the metal had been ripped into igniting the darkness like erratic fireflies in the night. 

 

Hand grasping tighter to the doorframe, Allura leaned further into the darkness, trying to see if she could catch sight of any additional damage from a different angle. As she leaned, she heard it; the soft sound of claws on metal echoing through the blackness. One of those things was in the elevator shaft….but why? Had it been trying to block the others from having a way back up? Was it trying to keep her friends captives in the belly of the castle? 

 

Static rung in her ears as Allura’s communication earrings illuminated, nearly causing her to lose her grasp and tumble down into the blackness below. Catching her breath (and her grip) Allura pulled herself back to stand straight in the open doorway, ears perking slightly when a familiar voice came through. 

 

“Guys? Guys if you can hear me, I need help. NOW. I think one of those things is in the shaft….!” the message came through before static took over once again. 

 

_ Keith! _ Allura recognized the red paladin’s voice immediately. 

 

She had to get to that elevator! But how? If she jumped, she could make it easily, though with the current state of the elevator her added weight could cause it to fully detach. There had to be a way...of course! Allura pushed herself back, typing a command into the elevator’s panel. Why hadn’t she thought of it before? After the command was completely typed in, Allura moved back to the doors, leaning inside once again as a small emergency compartment opened right beside it on the inside wall, revealing a large coil of metal rope and a harness. 

 

Many times in her youth Allura had loved to watch the repairmen working in the elevator shafts, imagining that they were acrobats in some divine circus act meant just for her. She knew better now, though she was grateful for the fond memory that helped her to achieve her goal in finding a way down to the elevator. Once she had secured the harness properly, Allura took a deep breath and readied herself for the climb down into the dark pit of the elevator shaft but froze before her descent could even begin. 

 

The screeching of claws on metal that had sounded earlier came again, the familiar sounds of metal doors being pried open all to familiar to the Altean royal as it was a feat she had just achieved minutes before. Voices came from within the elevator, Allura’s heard jumping as something slammed against the elevator walls, causing the cylindrical pod to creak and groan at the force. After that it stilled. Allura held her breath, leaning forward more to try and get a better idea of what was going on, expecting to hear more screeches.

 

Silence greeted her. No screams. No movement. Just silence and darkness. Allura swallowed the dry lump in her throat, taking a deep breath as she slowly moved from the doorway into the dark, feet planted firmly on the cool metal of the walls. She felt the air from beneath push against her cheeks as step by step she wall-walked towards her goal. The harness held tight against her, the sound of the aged metal rope uncoiling behind her doing very little to ease the rising tension in her mind. 

 

The low purr which echoed from the dark surrounding her stopped Allura in her tracks, hand reaching back to grasp the rope that held her. The low hum resonated through her, bumps rising on her skin beneath her suit. Below her the elevator creaked and swayed, the broken mechanisms struggling to keep it attached to the wall groaning as they continued to do their best to hold everything together. Then she saw them, eyes as red as freshly spilt blood emerging from the elevator. It was one of those... _ things _ , and it wasn’t alone. Held protectively in its arms as though it was holding some elaborate prize, Allura could barely make out Lance’s familiar silhouette pressed limply against the larger body. 

 

A loud groan of metal echoed about her as the elevator shifted again. The thing was getting ready to leap, she could tell by the way it moved in the dark. While she was no engineer, Allura knew very well that if the thing jumped hard enough, it would cause enough stress on the already damaged mechanisms to completely dislodge the elevator from the safety latches on the walls and send it crashing down below. She couldn’t let that happen with Keith still inside the elevator, but she couldn’t let this strange monster take Lance either. There was no way she could save both. 

 

She would have to make a choice: the red paladin or the blue paladin. 

 

The sound of snapping metal jerked Allura back to her senses; the creature had leapt away from the elevator just as she had thought it would do. Sucking in a breath she let go of the rope, pushing herself off the wall with all her might to dive down into the darkness without another thought.

 

She had made her choice.  

  
  


* * *

  
  


“That’s right! You  _ better  _ run you COWARDS!!” 

 

Hunk watched as Pidge chucked a piece of fallen something over the side of the banister and into the dark where the last of the creatures had vanished. The battle between the Paladins and creatures seemed to have ended just as quickly as it had begun, and while this made Hunk very happy (he did not like the way those things’ eyes glowed in the pulsating lights), it also placed the warrior on edge. One moment they had been in combat, each of them doing their damndest to keep the larger beings back and away from the elevator where Coran had retreated with Keith and Lance in tow and the next the things just...retreated. 

 

No cries or commands from the beings, no hand gestures, they had just stopped dead in their tracks, a couple of them in mid swing. It was as though something had clicked inside of them, an unheard order being commanded and they ceased in their attacking all at once before abruptly retreating back in different directions into the surrounding darkness where they vanished yet again. 

 

Hunk heaved a heavy sigh, removing his helmet after securing his bayard at his side so that he could wipe the sweat from his brow as Pidge sauntered over, a cocky grin on her face as she proudly wielded some sort of prize in her grasp.

 

“Pidge?” Hunk arched a brow once the shorter Paladin was close enough, “Is that-?” he eyed her prize, “Oh, christ, Pidge! Is that a hand?!” 

 

“Damn straight,” Pidge retorted quite proudly, chest puffing out a little, “Bastard froze mid swing at me, so I decided to make sure it wouldn’t be taking another swipe at anyone anytime soon,” she gestured with the severed limb proudly as she spoke. 

 

Hunk fet bile rise in his throat as she did, “Oof, here it comes!” he groaned, covering his mouth and turning away to hold down the contents of his sensitive stomach. 

 

“I’ll excuse the language for now, Pidge,” Shiro came jogging over from his own position on the narrow battleground/walkway, “Let me have a look at what you’ve got there.”

 

Hunk’s stomach lurched again as he made the mistake of looking over his shoulder at the exact time that Pidge began to hand over her prize to their leader. With a groan he closed his eyes, looking away once more as Coran rubbed his back in comfort. 

 

“Chin up, lad!” Coran told him, “Easy. Deep breaths.”

 

“Uugh...thanks, Coran…”

 

“If it makes you feel any better, Hunk, this doesn’t seem to be the hand of a living thing,” Shiro attempted to console the yellow paladin as he looked over the appendage that Pidge had given him, “At least...I don’t think it is….”

 

Brownish-grey in color, it hung limply in Shiro’s grasp, clawed fingers flopping loosely as he turned it over in his hold. There were visible joints that seemed to squeak a little as the fingers moved lifelessly and, after a closer inspection, the skin wasn’t skin (or scales) at all, but rather a very thin metallic like substance complete with rust and cracks from age and use. The hand had been cut clean through right below the wrist, the portion that had been sliced through by Pidge’s bayard smooth and slightly warm. Having a metal arm of his own, Shiro had no trouble in thinking that, perhaps, this was some sort of extendable appendage...until he twisted it one more time in his grasp to view the inside. 

 

Unlike the insides of most prothstetics this one was not hollow or filled with specialized metal wires and mechanisms to help it move. Shiro felt himself pale as he took in the sight: a small, skeletal pole was within the hand, the end cauterized from the heat of the bayard that had dislodged it from its proper place. Wrapped around it appeared to be vine-like innards, ones which the black paladin swore were still slightly pulsating despite no longer being attached to anything in particular. Making a face, Shiro gladly passed the hand back to Pidge, who slipped it away into her side pouch that she had brought with her and attached to her armor. 

 

“What the hell are these things?” he asked. 

 

Before anyone could answer, they heard it: a loud screech of metal on metal from behind them followed shortly by the sound of something crashing into the platform hard enough to cause the walkway they were on to shake. Shiro felt himself break into a cold sweat as he turned, locking eyes with Coran. 

 

“The elevator!” were the only words that escaped the Altean’s lips before he turned, dashing away down the walkway at top speed, followed closely by the others. 

 

Panic began to engulf them as they drew nearer to the elevator. The doors had been slammed into from the inside of the shaft, buckling outwards from the pressure of the heavy metal pushing into them. Sparks and dust cascaded from the partial crack in the jarred doors, a faint light flickering from within. 

 

“No no no…!” Coran was the first one there, gloved hands prying into the cracks to try and budge it open, finding it difficult even with his strength to get the jammed doors to part, “Keith! Lance!” he called, stepping aside only slightly as Shiro joined him in his attempts to get the door open, metal arm aglow as the paladin leader put all his strength into prying the metal apart. 

 

With their combined strength, the doors began to slide open painfully slow. Pidge slipped in between her two larger companions, giving out a grunt as she wedged her bayard between the metal doors, doing her best to help hold it open while at the same time trying to catch a glimpse of the scene inside. 

 

“Keith!” Shiro called out in hopes of receiving an answer, a groan, anything that would signal to them that someone was alive within the confines of this metal coffin. His heart sank when no such response came, “Pidge!” grey eyes darted down to the smaller paladin between he and Coran, “Can you see inside?”

 

“I’m trying-!” Pidge squeezed her bayard tightly to expand the blade of her weapon out just a little more, the glow illuminating a small portion of the darkness that awaited beyond the door frame, “I think I see something…!”

 

Leaning in closer, Pidge kept a firm hold on her bayard to keep the glow continuous so that she could see. Within the shaft, she could barely make out the scene of the elevator, laying twisted and dented inside at an odd angle within the interior walls. The inside of the compartment could scarcely be seen beyond the damaged inner doors (also, Pidge noted, pried open by force), sparks cascading down from both within the compartment and above it on the outside. Squinting into what light came from her bayard, Pidge gasped as she caught sight of a familiar red helmet. 

 

“I think I see Keith!” Pidge looked up into the worried faces above her, “His helmet at least! He might be unconscious!” 

 

“What about Lance?” Hunk’s worried voice asked from behind as the yellow paladin’s strong hands joined in the effort to pull open the doors on Coran’s side. 

 

Pidge peered in again, “I...I don’t see him!” she felt a dip in the pit of her stomach, “But he could still be in there!”

 

“Can you reach him?” Shiro questioned. 

 

“Not with my arms, no. I could try to snag him with my bayard, though. Keep the doors open as wide as you can!” Pidge’s grasp on her bayard tightened, eyes focused on the red target within. 

 

“You got it, Pidge!” Hunk sounded more confident about everything than he looked, but dug his heels into the floor nonetheless as he hauled back on his side of the doors, “Pull guys!”

 

On Hunk’s command, both Coran and Shiro increased their holds as well on the door, pulling with more might than either of them knew they possessed. The metal doors creaked and whined at the intrusion, digging their gears against their own safety mechanisms in an attempt to keep the paladins and advisor out and away from the danger of the crashed elevator; failing as they were pulled open wide enough for a body to barely be able to slip through. Pidge took a breath as the doors were pulled open wider, eyeing her target within, calculating quickly just the right angle that she would need to fire in order to get her bayard’s hook around Keith safely and securely. As the doors creaked open wide enough, she took her chance. The green bayard shot forward into the elevator, taking its light with it; Pidge would have to play it by touch to be sure that she had shot it correctly. 

 

A few seconds passed before she felt the bayard attach to something within, causing her heart to race slightly, “I think I’ve got him!”

 

“Good! Ok, pull him out!” Shiro nodded to her, “As gently as you can. Then once we have Keith out we can-” 

 

Shiro’s words were abruptly cut off by a small, but very loud popping sound that echoed throughout the interior of the elevator shaft. Sparks flew, gears groaned in protest as the elevator began to shift once more. Pidge realized then that the position it had fallen into was only temporary; but before she had time to react, another groan echoed through the shaft, the elevator plunging downwards once more into the depths below. 

 

“NO!!” Pidge pulled back as hard as she could on her bayard to retract the metal chord quickly, paling when it came back with only a red helmet, the visor slightly cracked. “...no…” green eyes looked up to Shiro, “I….” 

 

“Hey! You got my helmet out!” echoed a very familiar voice from not too far above them in the darkness. 

 

“Keith!” Pidge leapt to her feet, hands clutching his helmet tightly, “You’re ok!!” 

 

“Where are you?” Shiro’s voice sounded more relieved that it had in awhile, “Keith?” 

 

“I have him!” came Allura’s voice, “We’re coming down to you, get those doors open!” 

 

“Allura?!” Pidge put the helmet aside quickly before joining Shiro on his side of the doors, grasping the bent metal tight in her hands, “Let’s get these doors opened!” 

 

With Pidge’s added strength, the small group managed to pull the doors open more. From inside, a tan hand reach through, applying the final push needed to force the already damaged metal doors the rest of the way open. Coran was the first to leave his post from the side of the doorway to reach through the dark opening and pull out the dangling red paladin that had been tucked snugly under Allura’s arm. 

 

“Thank Alfor!” the advisor embraced the dark haired fighter in his arms as he stepped back to allow Allura room to swing herself out of the shaft to land on the ground beside Shiro, “When that elevator collapsed I thought we had lost you!” 

 

“I thought I was a goner too,” Keith nodded to Pidge as the other handed over his helmet, “I barely had time to climb out of the top of the elevator before it fell. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do once I made it out of the top, honestly, but then Allura came swooping down from above and caught me.” 

 

“It was quite the acrobatic act,” Allura finished shedding the harness from about her waist and shoulders, “I was afraid I was going to miss. Luckily I didn’t…” 

 

“I’m glad you’re both safe,” it was Hunk’s turn to engulf them both in a large hug, “...but…” they all felt their chests tighten as the question which lingered on all their minds was brought into the open, “....where’s Lance?” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Faded eyes stared up into the darkness above him, unblinking and half lidded in his current state of mind that kept him trapped inside the former shell of a body that he once controlled. Control that was now all but lost to him due to the metal adorning his brow like some kind of cursed crown. Noises beside him caused Lance’s gaze to look away from the ceiling above, glancing to the side where he found the creature with red eyes kneeling down beside where he had been gently placed, sharp claws touching his skin ever so gently as they ran along the paladin’s brow to move aside any stray strands of auburn that may have been falling down into those clouded blue eyes, its head tilted in a way that one might have perceived as being concern as it looked to him. 

 

Lance wanted to scream, to turn his head away from those claws and run, but his body wouldn’t move as he wished it. Only his eyes seemed to be his own, able to look around through the haze that sifted within his mind like fog, darting from here to there when a noise caught his attention. Though in his current state, he began to wonder if what he saw was truly real or just another nightmare brought to life from the horrors of his own delusions. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried to move. After the creature had taken him from the elevator, away from his last hope of freedom, he had been able to move somewhat, pushing back against the chilled arms that held him as a moment of control washed over him in his desperation to fight back against whatever had been done to him. The moment had faded as quickly as it came though, the low hum of the creature placing him back into his complacent state once more so that it could carry him off back into the dark, leaving the red paladin behind in the black abyss to...to… 

 

Keith. 

 

The sudden memory of the other being with him in the elevator hit him like a brick. Keith had been there, trying to take him away from these monsters and bring him home back to the others. Guilt rose in his chest as the memory of what he had done flooded over him. He still wasn’t sure why he had done it; a sudden urge had overcome him from nowhere to rise to his feet and attack his fellow paladin, and for what? Trying to help him?

 

A shaky breath escaped from his lips as Lance attempted to comprehend what he had done. No...not him...something had made him do it. A small voice nestled deep in the back of his mind had risen up at just that moment, urging him to attack, to protect! The vines that had grown from the band along his temple had pulsated to life at the voice’s beckoning...he remembered feeling the tingle of energy surge through him and down to his fingertips, almost as though he had been electrocuted once more. In that moment he had lost himself, coming back only when he heard Keith’s voice calling out to him. It had taken all the strength he had remaining to pull himself out of that dark place he had been sent to...to push forth his own voice and ask for help...to beg the other to find him despite what he had just done.

 

“Lance…” the cold touch of the claws along his cheek brought the Cuban back into his unwanted reality, the imitated voice of the red paladin flowing smoothly from the mouthless face of the creature before him, “I know you must be scared...but it will be over soon...you are doing so well…”

 

Doing well? Lance wanted to laugh in the thing’s face. What the hell was it talking about, ‘he was doing well’? Alas all that the blue paladin was able to muster was another shaky breath. 

 

Since being brought here it had become nearly impossible to breathe well, he found. Lance was able to inhale well enough to get the oxygen he needed, but taking the breath itself had become a battle rather than a natural occurrence. He vaguely could recall what had occured after being brought into this new dungeon within his home, but he remembered the red eyed creatures claw running down his chest, heard the sound of the pod suit ripping beneath its sharpness before something cold and heavy was rested upon the center of his chest. Whatever it had been, it warmed up to him right away, sucking out what warmth he had left in his body, pulsating slowly as it grew heavier and heavier on his chest, forcing each breath that was taken to become more and more labored. 

 

It frightened him. 

 

The red eyed creature’s hand cupped his cheek gently, cooing and purring to him once more in that strange, melodic tone as Lance felt whatever it was on his chest pulsate quicker. Something was spreading through his body, the tingly feeling spreading through him like a drop of blood through water. Lance’s vision began to slip as the cooing continued, his already heavy eyelids threatening to shut on him. He didn’t want to close his eyes...he feared they would never open again if he did. 

 

A familiar noise of a door opening sounded from the dark causing the red eyed being to slowly stand and turn away from Lance. Watching him as best as he could, Lance saw the eyes of the other creatures emerge. While he couldn’t see them completely in the dark, his eyes had adjusted well enough to see that the one with the magenta eyes was cradling his arm close to him...he was missing his hand. He tried to listen in as his vision began to darken, listening to their clicks and purrs as the red eyed creature looked to its companion’s wound, visibly concerned (or, at least he assumed it was) for the other’s well-being. Whatever concerns red eyes may have had, however, were pushed aside as the magenta eyed being moved past him and over to Lance. 

 

It was getting hard to focus. Lance desperately attempted to keep his eyes open as the largest of the beings reached out with his remaining hand, placing it onto the pulsating object which had latched itself onto Lance’s chest. A deep purr rumbled from its form, eyes lighting up gradually the longer that it held its hand there. Lance’s breathing quickened as pressure began to weigh down on his chest. His mind swirled, what vision remained was focused on the glowing magenta eyes before him. He heard Shiro’s voice once more: 

 

“It’s time.” 

 

A jolt ran through his body, causing his back to arch, vision turning white. He tried to scream, to vent some of the pain that raced through him, but no sound emerged. The pain that resonated felt as if something had begun to burrow deep into his chest, as though a seed was being planted, its roots wrapping about his insides searching for a permanent home. Something was changing, pushing down everything that made Lance himself, pulling forth something foreign...something new…. 

 

Lance could feel his world slipping. He clung as best he could to that which was being taken away, refusing to let go...but it was hard...and he was tired. The white in his vision began to fade, the burning in his chest (his entire being) began to subside, as did his consciousness. Above him he saw the colored eyes of the beings looming over him watching….waiting….a final jolt ran through his body, shoving what little consciousness he had managed to cling to out of his grasp, sending him reeling back into the darkness that awaited him in his subconscious. As he slipped away, losing himself more and more with each passing breath, he heard Shiro’s voice speak out to him one final time. 

 

“....Welcome home…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to bring to the spotlight a wonderful piece of [ fanart](https://www.instagram.com/p/BjS2XRqlUIw/?taken-by=accidentally.an.artist) created for this tale by [accidentally.an.artist!](https://www.instagram.com/accidentally.an.artist/). Thank you so much for this it is wonderful!! :3


	9. Chapter 9

 

To say that guilt did not ride upon their conscience would be a straight out lie. After Hunk had asked the daunting question as to where his best friend was, Keith couldn’t help but avert his eyes from the other as he mumbled out the response that he had lost Lance once again to the clutches of the strange creatures that had hunted them. Allura had quickly stepped forward as well, admitting her own guilt to the loss of the blue paladin to the soft hearted warrior upon having to choose between either Lance or Keith when diving down into the elevator shaft and, while she had been successful in saving the life of the red paladin, the guilt still haunted her from having to make a choice between the two of them. While Keith could not bring himself to look at Hunk straight away, he felt the other’s hug around him tighten slightly; not out of anger but in comfort, allowing Keith to look up at the other at last. In Hunk’s expression there lied no anger or blame, but rather a sad understanding that their friend had been lost to them again, and (much to both Allura and Keith’s surprise) a look of determination that seemed to bring them all comfort in knowing that there was still hope in locating their lost companion. 

 

Once things had managed to calm slightly and Coran had thoroughly checked both Keith and Allura for any injuries they may have sustained during their adventure down the elevator shaft (he had located only a few minor scrapes and bruises thank Alfor) Keith told the others of what had happened while in the elevator itself. He told them of the way the creature acted, how obsessive yet gentle it had been when taking Lance away and Lance...poor Lance. Keith had to pause and take a breath to steady his thoughts upon remembering the blue paladin as pale as a forgotten spirit, eyes clouded...his voice cracking as it begged Keith to find him...the dark vines that had been cascading down along his neck almost as though they were trying to envelop the other’s very soul within them. Shiro had placed a hand on his shoulder when he finished, giving the other a firm squeeze of wordless assurance they would get Lance back. No matter what. 

 

That had been what seemed like ages ago. After Keith had finished telling his tale, they had gathered their thoughts and began their journey back down into the lower depths of the castle. With the elevator located near the healing pod restoration station being completely out of commission they really had no choice but to venture across the platform which had only moments before been a battlefield to continue on with their search for the taken paladin. The lights above them flickered still, allowing just enough light for them to safely make their way across the walkway, flashlights from their armor and suits turned on upon walking through the open doorway at the other end and into full darkness once more. 

 

“Eitarnes….Eitarnes….” while making their way into the other area of the ship Coran had managed to enlighten Allura on the strange earth coding which Hunk and Pidge had deciphered after finding the empty healing pod. Since hearing the name (at least she assumed it to be a name), Allura had been running it over and over in her mind, “That name sounds so familiar! I recognize it from somewhere…” 

 

“I know,” Coran stayed close to Allura as they wandered down the darkened hall, “When number five uttered that name it hit something in my head. Just can’t figure out what,” he looked over to the other Altean, “I was hoping that it would ring a bell with you, Princess.”

 

Allura’s fingers tapped her side lightly as they walked, mind racing through her own memories to try and connect the familiarity of the name with someone that they had perhaps once known in the distant past. 

 

“The name is so familiar,” Allura hummed again, “I know I heard my Father say it at least once when I was around him...though he said it so quietly I never truly paid much attention to all that he said…” 

 

“Hey, Pidge,” Shiro’s voice cut through the shadows of the dark from the head of the group, “Do you happen to know where we are exactly?”

 

“According to the map Allura sent us-” Pidge held up her wrist to allow the map to form, the additional light from the hologram illuminating the halls where they walked with a faint green glow, “We should be in the science labs,” she blinked as the map vanished, “Though this section of the map in particular has been blacked out. No labels as to what things are or where things are located...it’s marked down as being a confidential area.” 

 

“Confidential?” Shiro arched a brow as he glance back at the smaller paladin, “As in quarantined or…?”

 

“I don’t think so,” Pidge shook her head, “It’s just, all the other sections of the map down here were labeled: Botany Wing, Chem Lab, those kinds of things. This wing’s name was blanked out and there was a little red dot that labeled it as restricted and confidential. Any ideas why?”

 

“I….I’m not sure,” both of Coran’s eyebrows raised in curiosity, “King Alfor always informed me of any parts of the castle that would be restricted. I made sure to memorize all of those places to be sure Allura didn’t go wandering off into one of them by mistake.”

 

“It has been ten thousand years, Coran,” Keith advised, “...maybe you just forgot about this one…” 

 

“I may be ten thousand plus years old, young man, but I still have a mind as sharp as a thwindle!” Coran tapped the side of his own head for emphasis, “I would never forget a restricted area of the castle. Ever.”

 

“Perhaps Father never told you?” Allura asked, adding in quickly upon seeing the hurt look on Coran’s face, “While I am sure he told you many things, Coran, there were some things that even Father would not entrust myself or Mother with. Everyone has their secrets…” 

 

Coran frowned but nodded with a heavy sigh, arms crossing over his chest as they continued to walk, “...but  _ why  _ would King Alfor have kept this part of the castle restricted and not tell anyone? Tell me? That just doesn’t make one bit of sense…” 

 

“I’m sure he had his reasons,” Allura placed a hand upon the other’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. 

 

“I suppose…” 

 

“Uh, guys?” Hunk’s wary voice caused the others to pause in their steps as the yellow paladin paused near a wall, “Is this….please tell me it’s not….” 

 

“What is it, Hunk?” Shiro made his way to the other, shining his light on the wall where Hunk’s eyes were looking, “Oh…” 

 

“Shiro?” a concerned Keith joined the little party, “...that’s blood…” 

 

“Those things don’t bleed though,” Hunk pointed out, “Pidge sliced one of their hands clean off and there wasn’t any-” he covered his own mouth mid-sentence, eyes wide at the realisation. 

 

While the creatures may not have bled….Lance did. 

 

“Easy…” Shiro swallowed his nerves in an attempt to keep both himself and his team calm as he stepped closer to the wall. Carefully he touched the spot of blood that had smeared along the metal surface, rubbing his fingers together to test out out if any had come off the wall when touched, “...It’s not fresh, but it isn’t very old either….” he looked back over his shoulder at the shadowed faces of his worried friends, “Don’t panic. We all saw that Lance’s shoulder was cut when he was running from those things….this must have been from before…”

 

“How can you be sure?” Hunk’s voice was beyond worried. 

 

“I-” Shiro took a breath, “I can’t,” he admitted, despite the frown that appeared on Hunk’s features, “But from what I can assume by the looks of the smear, this had to of happened when Lance was running away. Keith said the creatures were carrying him and being very gentle….I doubt they would have slammed him up against a wall if they wanted him alive.”

 

“Shiro’s right,” Pidge had come over to examine the smear, leaning in as close as she dared to examine it, “Plus it looks like it came from this way,” she pointed her light down the hallway, “There’s no way in hell Lance would have been running towards the dark hallway.”

 

“Pidge.”

 

“Sorry, Shiro. No way in  _ heck, _ ” she sighed with an eyeroll. 

 

“Well, if it came from that way, then that’s the way we’re going to go,” Keith shined his own light down the hall, “Maybe we’ll find some answers.”

 

There was a murmur of agreement amongst the group as they made their way down the hall slowly. Along the way their lights found other traces of their lost friend and the creatures: more blood smears in erratic spots (most likely where Lance had leaned against the wall in his escape attempt) as well as the more horrific sight of deep gashes of claw marks lingering not very far behind. There had been a chase here, of that there was no doubt in their minds. They continued on, lights constantly shining along the walls and floors as they attempted to follow any more of the trail that had been left behind from their companions earlier escape, the hallway seeming to be neverending in the darkness.

 

It wasn’t until the smell hit their senses that they stopped again. 

 

“Holy-!” Keith gagged a little at the smell, the faceplate of his helmet lowering down all the way to block it out and provide fresh oxygen to his assaulted senses, “What is that?!”

 

Coran arched a brow, taking a rather large whiff of the air as the other paladins followed suit with Keith and lowered their visors all the way, “Smells like a rotted murpleweed,” he stated rather calmly. 

 

“Seriously, how can you stand that stench?” Hunk asked the two Alteans who, for the most part, seemed quite unaffected by the sudden onslaught of stink. 

 

“Your senses are probably just a bit more delicate than we Alteans’ are,” Coran admitted in a rather proud tone, “Takes quite the stench to make our stomachs turn.”

 

“That’s all well and good, Coran, but where is that smell coming from?” Shiro sighed as the relief from his helmet wafted the smell away. 

 

Allura closed her eyes a moment, taking a few more sniffs, “This way,” she pointed her light and took lead of the group. 

 

Onward they walked, soon finding the room where the smell seemed to be coming from. The doors which led to the room had been pried open by force, the dented metal sparking ever so slightly as it attempted to close itself automatically as it had been programmed. Allura made quick work in typing in a shutdown code into the door’s sensor panel, effectively shutting down its power, the sparks ceasing. Once sure that there was no chance of the doors turning back on and accidently slicing any of them in two in its attempt to close, one by one the group slipped in between the bent doors and into the room that waited beyond. 

 

“Oh my,” Allura waived her hand in front of her face a little once they had all entered, “This is the room all right. The smell is much, much stronger in here than it was out in the hallway.” 

 

“I would keep your visors down, especially you, Hunk,” Coran advised, making his way over to another panel in the room to see if he couldn’t at least get the room lights to turn on, “I don’t think any of you would be able to stand it at all.”

 

“Noted. I don’t need to smell whatever that stench is again,” Hunk sighed heavily, shaking his head some before he turned his light to try and examine the room, “What is this place?” he asked aloud, “...It looks like one of those old science labs you’d see in the movies…”

 

“Well, we are in the science wing,” Keith leaned down to examine what seemed to be a line of old bottles and beakers on a shelf, some broken in places and some as pristine as the day they had been set there, each labeled in what could barely be made out as Altean (though all alien writing seemed to blend together to him). 

 

“Yeah but this place? It seems more than just some science lab where you would do chem experiments or something,” Hunk wandered further into the surprisingly large room to see what else he could examine, “It’s more like one of those creepy places where you...find…” 

 

“Hunk?” Keith straightened up, glancing over his shoulder to where the other Paladin had gone, “You ok?”

 

“Guys…” Hunk took a step back from what he had encountered, shaking hand rising ever so slightly to point ahead of him. 

 

“Hunk, what is it?” alarmed for his safety, Shiro turned and in a few quick strides was in the back of the room beside his fellow paladin. His eyes followed to where Hunk was pointing, “Oh my God…” 

 

“Paladins?” it was Allura’s turn to make her way into the darker corner of the room, followed closely by Pidge and Keith, “What is it?”

 

As the three drew closer to their companions they began to come across what Hunk had found in the darkness. A large mass sprawled upon and old table, covered by a faded yellow cloth and dust; cold, lifeless and unmoving. 

 

“...Oh my…” Allura paused mid step, only feet away from where the mass laid, eyes widening at the realization of what rested before them, “....it’s a body.”

 

They grew silent at that, none of them wanting to put into words their speculation as to whose body it may have been. Truth of the matter was they all feared to find out the answer. Nervous looks were exchanged, each glance attempting to decipher which one of them would be the brave soul to reach forward and remove the aged cloth to reveal who (or what) the body was lying beneath it. None of them wanted to be the chosen one in this situation. After a few more frightened glances and nervous fidgeting, Shiro finally took a step forward to stand before the old table, grey eyes looking down at the form beneath the sheets with a cold determination. 

 

Shiro had seen bodies before in the arena, freshly fallen and displayed with less respect than this poor soul as they were drug away before his eyes. He could do this. He could take on the responsibility of revealing the poor soul beneath the cloth and relieve some of the tension on his younger teammates.  Taking a long, shaking breath, his hand reached out for the sheet, grasping it firmly in his hand as he counted backwards from five in his head, readying himself for whomever (or whatever) it was that awaited it’s reveal. 

 

_...3...2… _ another final exhale as he readied to pull,  _...1…! _

 

“Got it!”

 

The sudden call from Coran followed by the illumination of the room was enough to make the entire group jump as one, the sheet slipping from Shiro’s hand as the paladin leader had to close his eyes quickly from the sudden invasion of light on his pupils. Groans and complaints about the sudden intrusion of their vision could be heard mumbling through them as Coran briskly made his way over. 

 

“Sorry about that! Suppose I should have given a bit more of a warning than I did,” Coran apologized as the group’s vision began to get used to the sudden brightness, “What in Alfor’s good name is that?” he pointed to the body on the table. 

 

“Well, we were about to find out until you turned the lights on,” Shiro blinked a couple of times to get rid of the remaining dancing dots in his vision. 

 

“Looks like a body to me,” Coran mused, stroking his mustache a moment in thought before taking another stride towards the table, pulling the sheet off the body as easily as one would pull a tablecloth from a dinner table, “Oh ho! Would you look at that!!”

 

The expression of the others as the cloth was pulled was mixed at most. Hunk had looked away, Keith had grabbed his bayard as if he expected the body to rise via Frankenstein style (with everything that had been happening the thought truly wasn’t that far fetched), Pidge had covered the facemask of her helmet with her hands and Allura had taken a step back (mostly to avoid the sheet as it fell in her direction). Once the sheet slid to the floor, though, followed by Coran’s non-horrified remark, all eyes turned once again to the body on the table. 

 

“...Wait...that’s not a body,” Pidge skittered to the front of the group and up to the table beside Coran, standing up on her tiptoes so that she would be able to get a full view of the thing on the table, “Well, it is but….it’s not a dead body…or even human...” out of curiosity she reached out to poke it. 

 

“Pidge don’t touch it!” Hunk groaned out, “Who knows where that thing has been!”

 

“I have gloves on, Hunk!” 

 

“That's not the point! You can't just go around poking at dead things!”

 

“Watch me!” 

 

“What is it?” Keith put his bayard back at his side as the group closed in around the thing on the table, ignoring the small spat between the largest and smallest paladins. 

 

“It looks like a training robot,” Allura moved in closer as well, joining the others in huddling about the thing on the table, eyes scanning the large bulk of meticulously shaped metal that rested before them, “But it’s unlike any I’ve seen before.”

 

“That’s because this one is a prototype,” Coran stated, “I only ever saw the plans for them. I heard a couple of the old engineers reporting that a few of these fellows had been made, but none of them made it to the castle’s training facilities.”

 

“Why not?” Keith glanced over at Coran as the advisor let out a hefty sigh. 

 

“Not quite sure. Malfunctions, maybe?” the advisor went back to his habit of stroking part of his mustache as he thought, “Honestly I never saw them in action. I don’t think they were even tested out…”  

 

“So what’s it doing in here then?” Shiro wanted to know, “If it’s a training droid prototype, why is it all the way down here in a restricted area of the castle’s science wing?”

 

“I wish I could tell you,” there was a sudden nervousness in Coran’s voice as he spoke. 

 

“It must have been brought in here for a reason,” Pidge, no longer wishing to merely poke the creature but examine it now, leaned forward a little as she moved along the table’s edge to take in each inch of the prototype before her, “It’s probably been down here for the past ten thousand years or so….” she looked to the others as she came full circle around the table, “But these scorch marks on it are fairly new.”

 

“Hey yeah, you’re right!” Hunk arched a brow as he leaned over to the table as well, reaching out  to run a hand over the dark splotches that ran along the metal frame. 

 

“Oh sure, I can’t poke it but you can caress it,” Pidge hmphed. 

 

“That was before we knew it was a robot and not a dead body,” Hunk grumbled right back at her. 

 

The engineer let his fingers run along each dark scar, trying to pinpoint where the source of the burning had come from. He began along the side of the frame, moving upwards to follow the zigzagging patterns of the burns. It was the same as trying to find the source of a spark in an outlet. Eventually the scarring path led him up the frame of the prototype and to the temple of the bot’s skull. There on each side of the face plate were two large scorch marks, darker than the others, black streaks spidering out from the center and down throughout the rest of the metal skeleton. 

 

The yellow paladin paled a little as he saw them, reminded of how his best friend had adorned the exact same injuries (only less severe) when the electrical storm had hit him. The similarities between them were just to eerie, too coincidental in his mind to push them aside. Hunk shook his head a little to steady his own nerves before finishing up his examination of the bot’s skull and the rest of the markings that outlined it before he straightened back up, ready to reveal his findings to the others. 

 

“Pidge was right, these are scorch marks,” Hunk confirmed, “This thing was electrocuted.” 

 

“But how?” Pidge asked, beginning to examine the scorch marks herself, “It’s not hooked up to anything. I know the hit by the storm knocked out the castle’s systems but there’s nothing here that would be able to conduct the electricity into it.” 

 

“I’m not sure,” Hunk shook his head, “But there’s another weird thing too. Look at this,” he motioned for the group to gather a little closer as he pointed to the prototype’s chest, “The breastplate has been removed and put back. Someone took something out of it.” 

 

“What would there be to take?” Coran questioned, “There’s nothing in these training bots. Just a few wires and a metal skeleton.” 

 

“Beats me,” Hunk shrugged, “But this breastplate was recently removed. It’s still loose,” he pressed his hand to the metal shifting the breastplate with ease, “See?” 

 

“Hunk, take that plate all the way off,” Shiro made the decision, “Let's see what was so important.” 

 

Hunk nodded and moved his hands back onto the large prototype, fingers curling beneath the cracking metal plate to gently pull it away from the body. Allura’s nose wrinkled as Hunk pulled away the metal plating, hand coming up to cover the bottom part of her face. 

 

“Well-” both she and Coran coughed a little as the yellow paladin sat the flaking metal plate aside, their senses becoming overwhelmed by the rotting aroma that had led them to the room, “I think-oh my,” Allura shook her head to try and rid her senses of the stench, managing somehow to regain her composure, “This is definitely the source of that smell from before!” 

 

“No wonder,” Coran pointed to the now revealed insides of the bot, “Look at its insides.” 

 

Even though the lights were on, Hunk turned on his flashlight once more to help brighten the insides of the prototype as the group leaned over it to peer into the thing’s insides. Unlike the training gladiators that loomed in the upper regions of the castle, white and pristine in their engineering with glowing crystals and wires adoring the skeletal insides of their immaculate bodies, the insides of the prototype were almost barren except for the blackened remains of thick vines that wrapped about the insides of the skeletal base making up the body. From the blackened vines leaked some type of ooze, grey in color and dried in places throughout the base of the body, some still wet as it leaked from where the vines had split when the electricity had run through its limbs. The vines twisted through the body from top to bottom, pooled in its own secreting stench from the gloopy liquid, filling the body so full that the vines themselves seemed to be one with the metal prototype minus one area: the dead center. 

 

Coran’s gloved hand reached into the chasm of the chest, fingers touching the barren spot that laid open amongst the vines. It was nearly pristine in the empty hole compared to the rest of the innards lying within, no ooze, no burn marks. Something large and heavy laden had once rested there in center. Whatever it was had long since been removed, carefully by the way that the vines around it had been gently cut through. But what would have been there? 

 

“Hey guys?” Pidge’s eyes widened as a sudden realization came over her, the green paladin turning momentarily to dig frantically into her side bag, pulling forth her trophy from the previous battle, “I think….I think this is…..this is one of those things….” 

 

“What?” Shiro’s gaze matched hers as Pidge produced the severed hand, setting it alongside the unmoving prototype’s. 

 

Despite the fact that the hand Pidge had cut was slightly greyer in color, the skin flaked in parts where the metal of the motionless bot remained whole, one thing was for certain: the two hands were identical. The vines inside the severed hand were still squirming as Pidge held it beside the the other, the fingers beginning to twitch as though the appendage was coming back to life in the presence of the other. Seeing the movement, Pidge quickly pulled it away, watching as the hand hung limply once more. 

 

“What are these things?” Hunk straightened up, flashlight turning off. 

 

“I….I don’t know….” Coran, for once, was at a loss for words, “...But whatever they are...the answers must be here, in this lab. From what we have seen, this seems to be the center of where they came from.” 

 

“Maybe the console over there has some answers. Here,” Pidge thrust the severed hand into Hunk’s grasp before the other paladin had a chance to argue, “Hold this. I’m going to see if I can get it up and running.” 

 

“Hey-but!” Hunk sighed, watching as Pidge scampered over to the old dust covered console on the opposite wall, “Sure….” he made a face, holding the hand out away from him by one limp finger. 

 

“Shiro,” Keith moved over to him as the others continued to examine the resting body while Pidge began working away at the console, “All of this...it’s good we’re figuring out what these things are, but Lance is still out there with who knows what happening to him! We have to find him!” 

 

“We’re going to, Keith,” Shiro understood the urgency in the other’s voice, “Believe me, we all want to find him as much as you do...but figuring out what these things are may help us in getting him back.” 

 

“How?” Keith shook his head, “Shiro you didn’t see him, didn’t see what they did to him. His eyes and...those things on his neck….they were doing something to him.  _ Changing  _ him, Shiro!” 

 

“Keith-” Shiro wanted to pull the other into a reassuring hug, but he knew at this point nothing that he could say would be able to ease the younger paladin. 

 

“I’ve got something!” Shiro was internally grateful that Pidge’s voice interrupted their discussion, “Come here!” 

 

“What is it?” Keith turned from Shiro, being the first to head over to Pidge followed closely by the others. 

 

“I found a research file on the console. It had more security on it than a lot of the Galra ships we’ve encountered, but I managed to get it open,” Pidge’s fingers were still flying across the elevated keyboard, eyes fixated on the data that was appearing on the holo screen before them, “A lot of it seems to have been corrupted by the electrical shock to the system, but what’s here is...well....” she took a breath, looking back at her friends over her shoulder, “It’s weird.” 

 

“What isn’t weird anymore?” Hunk was still holding the severed hand out at arms length, “Will you take this thing back already?” 

 

“Oh right. Here,” Pidge absent mindedly held out her hand for Hunk to drop severed hand back into, eyes turning back to the screen to scan over the information that came scrolling across it. 

 

“Take it,” Hunk made a face before dropping the hand, yelping as it missed Pidge’s hand, instead falling flat through the holo keyboard near her, “Sorry!” 

 

“Hunk-!” Pidge sighed but stepped back as the holo screen flickered before going dark, “No!” 

 

“Sorry! Sorry!” Hunk apologized again, bending down to pick up the hand once more but stopped as the screen flickered back to life once more, “Wait….” 

 

“What’s going on?” Shiro asked, “Pidge? Hunk?” 

 

“It’s accessing something else-I didn’t do anything!” Pidge tried to enter in more commands, yelping as the keys shocked her, “Shit!” 

 

Allura pulled Pidge back as the screen fritzed and twitched, the hand on the floor coming to life just as it had before when placed close to the prototype on the table, the fingers  _ tap tap tapping  _ against the dusty floor. The lights began to flicker in the room as more data filtered across the screen, the holographic system blacking out once more as it began to completely shift in form. The group moved back as far as they dared, any thoughts of trying to run through the open door at the other end of the room pushed away as the lights continued to flicker.

 

**_Accessing…._ ** A voice echoed from somewhere, crackling and hissing as the formation began to take shape before them.  **_Code Black….requesting….Access Granted…._ **

 

With a final fritzing spark from the holo console the room went dark and worse, silent except for the tapping of the severed hand upon the floor, a tapping which stopped suddenly. A gentle hum filled the room, a spark of electricity causing the hairs on the back of all the group’s neck to rise momentarily before the lights illuminated the room once more, a faded figure standing straight before them, pale in its features, almost ghostlike as it looked them over with color changing eyes. 

 

“Who-?” Coran instinctively moved himself in front of the others, watching as the figure bent down slowly to pick up the now quiet severed hand. 

 

“Greetings,” the fluctuating voice seemed to hum as the being spoke, its form seeming to jerk slightly upon its movements, “...I am Eitarnes…” 


	10. Chapter 10

“It’s an AI!”

 

Despite all the disheartening things that had been occurring to them throughout the day, it was very hard for Pidge to hold back her enthusiasm upon the realization of what was standing before them. Feeling her heart beat faster with excitement, it took all the will power she had not to race forward towards the ominous glow of data to begin examining it further. The AI, Eitarnes as it called itself, was standing still before them, bits and pieces of it’s pale, transparent body flickering in and out (almost as if it were malfunctioning in certain places) it’s head tilted in a curious manner as eyes that couldn’t stay with one color stared at them with curiosity. In its grasp rested the disembodied hand that Pidge had sliced free from its owner, fingers twitching in what one may have considered impatience if they were to believe that a hand without a body could actually think.

 

“Yes, number five, we can see that,” Coran, still standing guard before the group nodded to Pidge’s vigorous exclamation, never once taking his own eyes off the glowing body before them, “It’s not like any AI I’ve ever seen on this ship before, though.”

 

“There seems to be a lot of things showing up on this ship we’ve never seen before, lately,” Allura commented, peering at the apparition as it once again began to flicker in and out before their eyes.

 

“So does anyone have any idea what we should do about this?” Keith asked, “It’s an AI. Great. How does that help us?”

 

“Maybe we can ask it for help?” Hunk suggested, “It did sort of show up after that creepy hand called it…”

 

“Yeah, sure. Great idea Hunk,” Keith scoffed slightly, “Let’s ask the thing summoned by the severed hand from one of those things for help!”

 

“Guys-” Shiro tried to interject.

 

“Hey, it’s worth a try!” came Hunk’s reply, “It’s better than just standing here staring at it-!”

 

“Guys!” Shiro stepped between the two, promptly cutting off the argument before it could begin, “Enough, ok? You both make a point: this AI was brought up by that hand, meaning that it has to be connected to it and those other creatures somehow. Asking it for information may be a good idea, but Keith is right, we’re not sure what it’s capable of doing so we need to be very careful in how we ask it…”

 

“Or Pidge could just hack it like she’s doing now,” Hunk arched a brow.

 

“Right. Or Pidge could just-wait. What?!” Shiro turned just in time to see the smallest paladin skitter carefully away from the group, eyes set on her goal of reaching the control panel behind the living mass of electrical data, “Pidge!” Shiro hissed out quietly.

 

Pidge froze only momentarily at the hiss of her name from their leader, glancing back at him with one finger up to her lips for him to be quiet. So far the AI hadn’t seemed to notice her and, if she were lucky, she would remain unnoticed long enough to sneak back over to the holo computer that Eitarnes had emerged from and connect back into it.  Shiro frowned slightly as he watched Pidge crouch down once more, her steps slow and careful as she carefully made her way towards the main panel, growing closer and closer still…

 

“May I assist you?”

 

“HOLY HELL!!”

 

Pidge stumbled backwards, nearly toppling over her own two feet as Eitarnes materialized before her in a flash, the air about it popping with static as it moved. Coran rushed forward as the green paladin stumbled, catching her firmly by the shoulders from behind before she was able to hit the floor. Eitarnes’ head tilted curiously at the action before glancing down once more at the limb in its grasp as the hands fingers tapped it with impatience.

 

“If you are not in need of assistance I must ask you to leave,” Eitarnes stated rather bluntly, sounding more like a living librarian being bothered by unruly school children than an advanced technological being, “I need to attend to a maintenance issue,” the stumbling paladin seemed to be of no concern to the AI as, with another static fritz, Eitarnes fizzled back towards the group, head jerking here and there as though it wasn’t quite sure of where it should be looking.

 

The group of paladins scrambled to move away from the wandering electric being, unsure of what would happen if one of them came in contact with it’s glowing form. From the way that the hairs on the back of their necks stood on end as it passed, they could only assume nothing good would come of the encounter. They watched as the twitching mass of data moved back beyond them in the dimly lit room to another table that rested beyond the one holding the unmoving mass of robotic body parts. It was there that Eitarnes froze as though lost, fingers reaching out to touch something on the table that was not there. Curious glances passed between the group as they watched the AI, cautiously waiting for whatever move it would make next.

 

“...Error…cannot begin maintenance...missing shell...” Eitarnes’ voice hummed out in confusion, glancing away from the empty table momentarily to the limb in its hand as though it was speaking directly to it and not the living beings that stood behind it, “Location needed to perform the proper protocol needed.”

 

“Is...is it asking the hand where its body is?” Hunk nervously whispered to his friends.

 

“Seems like it,” Keith whispered right back, never once taking his eyes away from their unknown guest.

 

“It seems to be confused,” Coran finished helping Pidge to stand back on her own two feet carefully, “Or broken. One of the two. Either way this thing doesn’t seem to be all there.”

 

“Good. That’s just what I need.”

 

Pidge took Eitarnes’ moment of confusion to regain her thoughts, focused once more on accessing the AI’s data as she dashed quickly towards the control panel that still loomed before them, wasting no time in quickly typing away her commands to try and interlock the computer in her armor to the database that had created this being. No sooner had she begun to input her commands, however, when a loud _clunk!_ sounded from the back of the room, the severed hand plopping down onto the empty metal table followed by a deep hum and flash of light as Eitarnes appeared before the green paladin, eyes dark and fingers twitching.

 

“Pidge!” Hunk cried out a warning, pushing his way forward to try and do something, anything to help out his friend.  

 

“No unauthorized access allowed!!” Eitarnes hissed and sputtered as a sparking hand slammed the holo screen down, cutting Pidge from its access...or so the AI believed.

 

Guttering out a low, garbled growl amongst its static, Eitarnes swiped at the holopad, hand slicing through it with a crackling sound as it dispersed into particles before the paladins’ eyes. Pidge stepped farther back from the angered AI as it began to lurch forward towards her, no doubt highly perturbed from the way she had intruded upon its secrets. Through the being’s hollow body Pidge saw the yellow paladin begin to move quickly towards her in an attempt to try and get around the glowing entity before it could cause the green paladin any harm.

 

“Hold on, Hunk!” Pidge raised her arm, the screen from her armor’s computer up and running, “Not yet!” her finger pressed against part of the small screen, swiping whatever she had managed to pull out from the console in order to activate it.

 

A high pitched screech filled the room, ear splitting enough that the group found themselves shielding their ears from the damnable sound lest it break their eardrums, before Eitarnes vanished just as quickly as it had materialized. Catching her breath, Pidge let her amor’s computer close for now, pushing her glasses back up her nose from where they had slid down.

 

“That was close,” she breathed.

 

“Pidge!” Large hands grasped her by the shoulders as Hunk checked her over for any injuries the chaotic AI may have caused, “Pidge are you ok? What happened?”

 

“Is that thing gone?” Shiro was by Hunk’s side quickly, followed in line by the others as they all checked over their companion.

 

“For now, yes,” Pidge nodded, giving Hunk’s hand a pat so the other would release her shoulders, “I’m ok. I got Eitarnes before it could get me.”

 

“What did you do with it?” Allura asked, “You didn’t send it into the Castle’s mainframe, did you?” that would be the last thing that they needed at this point.

 

Pidge shook her head, “No. I just put a pause function on its hardware. Not sure how long that will last, though. I didn’t manage to get too much of it downloaded into my armor’s drive, but I think I got enough where I can fully transfer its data once we’re in a safer place.”

 

“Translation?” Shiro inquired.

 

“I zapped that sucker onto a storage drive until I can find a way to access its system without it going haywire on us,” Pidge explained with a proud smirk.

 

“Good thinking.”

 

“We’re still back at square one again, though,” Hunk interjected, “Keith’s right. All of this-” he motioned to the dismal lab surrounding them, “-it’s something but it hasn’t gotten us any closer to finding Lance than we were before! What if something’s happened to him while we’ve been down here? What if-!”

 

“Hunk,” Keith put a hand firmly onto the taller pilot’s shoulder, squeezing it the best that he could through his armor, “Calm down. You were right before, too. While all of this might not be super helpful right now, this AI may help us figure out exactly what these things are and why they wanted Lance in the first place.”

 

Hunk took a breath but nodded, “What now then?” he turned his eyes to their leader.

 

Shiro was quiet a moment, arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed as he contemplated everything that had occured in just the short amount of time that they had been in the lab. After a few seconds, Shiro reopened his eyes, moving past his team and back to the table where the now unmoving severed hand had fallen, picking up the limb in his grasp before turning back to his team.

 

“I know I said we should stick together, but with what just happened I think it’s time for us to split up,” Shiro stated.

 

“Is that wise?” Allura questioned, watching Shiro hand over the severed limb back to Pidge for safe keeping, “You all managed to barely make it through the last time we ran into those creatures, and the only one not there was me; and in the elevator…” she allowed herself to trail off slightly at that mention, clearing her throat a moment before she continued, “...I trust your judgement, Shiro, I do. It’s just…”

 

“What other choice do we have?” Shiro looked to the group before him, “I don’t like the idea of splitting up anymore than you do, believe me, but we’re at the point now where it seems to be our only option. We managed to stumble onto this place, to find out a little bit more about these creatures and we need to utilize this small amount of knowledge to our advantage. To do that we need to split up.”

 

“Allura and I can go with Pidge back up to the bridge of the ship to help her out with our new friend here,” Coran stepped forward, volunteering both himself and the Princess, “If this Eitarnes thing really was an AI made by someone in the Castle, Allura and I would be the best ones to help her break through to its core for information.”

 

“That leaves Hunk and I to come with you to find Lance,” Keith added in.

 

“Then it’s settled,” Shiro nodded, “Keep comms as open as possible, I want communication on anything and everything anyone is able to find. We check in every five to ten minutes and we don’t stop...not until we have Lance back.”

  


* * *

 

The journey back through the hallway, past the dried blood smeared on the walls and back across the battle torn bridge seemed to take twice the time than when they had first ventured down below. Coran had been quick to usher them around the elevator shaft that had come crashing down beforehand, doing his best to avert their thoughts away from the nightmarish memory of what had occured within the confines of that metal coffin to two of their own, to help ease their pain at the thought of who had been taken so easily from them there and ease the guilt of the one who had lost him. The advisor led them around to another elevator located nearby, the small group loading into the metal lift solemnly, each lost in their own thoughts. Before leaving the lab area, they had all assisted Pidge in gathering everything and anything she may have needed in order to conduct her needed research on their newest find, including samples of the rotting goop that had once been the insides of the dead creature upon the examination table.

 

Hunk made a face as the mostly liquified (yet still very chunky) goo sloshed about in the beaker Pidge held, the stench of it barely able to ooze through its corked top as the elevator lifted the paladins and Alteans up out of the darkness and back into the better lit area of the castle. The yellow paladin had to avert his eyes away from the beaker quickly as he felt bile rise in the back of his throat.

 

The sooner all of this creature nonsense came to an end, the better.

 

“This is our stop,” Shiro’s human palm pressed against the pad of the elevator to bring it to a halt once they had reached the deck just below the bridge area, “Keith, Hunk and I will continue our search here. My guess is that if the creatures knew we were down below looking for Lance, they may have moved him upwards and away from us.”

 

“We’ll continue up to the bridge,” Allura stepped aside to let the three paladins pass her as the doors slid open with a hiss, “With any luck, the Castle’s systems will be closer to being fully operational again.”

 

“I’ll try and see how many cameras we have working in the castle,” Coran added in, “The more eyes we have out there the better our chances will be.”

 

“Good. Keep us alerted of anything you find,” Shiro nodded, keeping a hand on the doorway to keep it open just a moment longer, “We’ll check in every five minutes or so. Any information you find out, whether it’s about that AI or especially about Lance, let us know as soon as possible. We need to keep ahead of these things and, if we can, try to catch them off guard.”

 

“Anything I learn I’ll be sure to let you guys know,” Pidge held the sloshy beaker tight in her grasp, “Just...be careful out there. Those things already got Lance...I don’t want them to take away anyone else either…”

 

Shiro gave her a reassuring smile, “I promise we’ll be back. With Lance.”

 

“Yeah, you better,” Pidge did her best to grin back at Shiro, “Because I’ll kick your ass if you don’t.”

 

“Language.”

 

Pidge laughed a little, more of a nervous chuckle to assure herself that Shiro and the others would be ok as the black paladin released the door frame, allowing the elevator to slide shut and begin to ascend them once more upwards towards the safety of the bridge. Lance had been taken from them twice already, right from under their noses...Pidge wasn’t sure what she would do if that happened to the rest of her family as well.

 

“Why don’t I take that for a bit, number five?” Coran’s gentle toned voice brought Pidge back to the present and out of her worried thoughts as the advisor placed a gentle hand over the beaker, “You’re squeezing it pretty tight. Don’t want it to break now.”

 

“Oh. Oh yeah...sure,” Pidge loosened her grasp on the glass container, allowing Coran to take it from her for the time being, “Sorry about that.”

 

They remained in silence for the rest of the short trip in the elevator, their minds set on the work that was to come. Once back on the bridge, the three separated to their own stations to begin their tasks: Allura to the main controls in order to check the status of the castle, Coran (after depositing the beaker of creature goop beside Pidge’s chair) went to begin checking the cameras for availability and Pidge went directly to her green station, sitting herself cross legged down into the curved back side of the chair to begin her work. After pulling up her systems that allowed her access to the ship’s mainframe, Pidge removed her helmet, setting it aside as she lifted her laptop into her lap, connecting it into the programs she would need to successfully harness the AI that was being stored away in its temporary position within her armor’s systems. As she began to pull up the programs that she would need to help keep the AI under control, a small chill down her back reminded her that the severed limb still sat in her tow away on her armor’s belt, silent and unmoving for now; but she remembered what had occured before when Eitarnes’ program had been activated.

 

Not wanting to have a large, clawed hand scrambling about in her armor, Pidge quickly pulled the limb out, glancing around for anything that might be useful in keeping the thing contained, just in case it decided to come alive again on them. A glass casing not too far away caught her eye across the room. It looked to be just the right size to hold the severed limb; large with strong walls to help keep it encased in case it began to squirm about. With her free hand, Pidge pulled out her bayard, taking aim as it fused into shape before firing at the box.

 

“Pidge! What on Altea…?” Allura looked over her shoulder to the green paladin as the other hauled in the glass box like a fish on a line, “You know Coran or I could have walked over there and handed you that, don’t you?”

 

“I needed the practice,” Pidge smirked, scooping up her prize to deposit the limb into it, shutting the case with a loud snap! “Besides, you two are busy. How are the castle’s systems?” she plopped the box beside her chair carefully before returning to her programs.

 

“Over sixty percent rebooted,” there was a hint of joy in Allura’s tone as she spoke. It was no secret that having the ship fully operational once more would give them a great advantage, “It should be up and running back to full capacity within the varga if we are lucky. Coran, do you have anything on the cameras?”

 

“Still trying to get them all fully up and running, Princess,” Coran replied, hands fiddling away with the controls as he stared intently at the screen before him, “Seems like our guests were rather busy while we were investigating down below. Most of the cameras that used to be functioning either aren’t now and the ones that are still functional seemed to have been shifted to stare at the wall.”

 

“Try to get them up and running as best as you can, Coran,” Allura sighed before returning her attention to her own duties, “I’m going to get the comms open and be sure that we have clear communication with the others.”

 

“Sounds good,” Pidge picked up an earpiece, slipping it on so that she could actively listen to any chatter that happened through the coms without any additional distractions, “I’m going to try and find a place to keep the AI before I begin to dig into its files and see what it knows. No use in having it attack us again…”

 

Pidge heard the agreements from both Alteans as she got back to work, fingers prodding in the commands onto her laptop, carefully separating the information found from the console down below away from the temporary program where she had stored the AI called Eitarnes. She needed to be sure that there was no way in hell the living computer data could somehow slip away into the ship’s systems, that would be the last thing that they needed. As she worked she listened to the small chatter that twittered in her earpiece over the comms; nothing important just yet, merely Shiro and the others checking in with one another, providing brief updates as to where they were and so on. All general information that she was able to filter out while keeping her main focus on the programs in front of her.

 

_Come on…_ Pidge began downloading the files that had been stored on the laboratory console on one screen, her systems slowly translating and separating information as on the second screen the green paladin continued her search for a proper storage unit, _There has to be some place._

 

A crackling in her earpiece caught her attention momentarily, causing Pidge to briefly halt her typing in order to tap on her earpiece softly to try and clear it out. The earpiece crackled again a few more times, before it went silent once more. Hazel eyes glanced momentarily at Coran and Allura to see if they had heard the static as well, but from the way that they were going on with their business it must have been nothing but a hiccup. Pidge took a breath, regaining her thoughts and turning her focus back to the task at hand. Before her eyes the screen flickered slightly as more codes, numbers and altean writing flashed onto it, causing Pidge to slow only slightly in fear that trying to run too much on a system that was still trying to reboot itself may cause it to overload.

 

As the flickering on the screen subsided and Pidge was sure that it wasn’t going to blow a fuse in any of the systems, she grinned to herself as she found a spot where she could safely deposit the AI for safe keeping until it would be needed again. However, she had to make sure the place was still functional.

 

“Allura?” Pidge looked up from her screen to the castle’s commander at the helm.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I found a place where I think we can put that Eitarnes program and not have to worry about it trying to rip our heads off, but I need to be sure it’s ok if I put it there, or if we need to find someplace else until the castle is fully functioning,” Pidge found herself speaking a little louder than needed as the crackle in her earpiece had returned, this time louder, “Also, are you getting any static on the comms or is it just me?”

 

“Our comms have been clear as nerfle bug,” Coran called over his shoulder, “Might just be your earpiece.”

 

“Where are you thinking of putting the AI, Pidge?” Allura inquired.

 

“There’s a small navigation area right beside the bridge used to store the castle’s holo maps,” Pidge tapped her earpiece again to silence the static, “It has an open slot in its hologram field to put the AI that would technically bolt it to the spot when activated and keep it docile when we need to access it. Kind of like an electronic holding cell.”

 

Allura pulled up a small grid of the area that Pidge was talking about before her, eyes scanning over its schematics and capabilities, “It seems to be in full running order,” she nodded finally, “Just be sure that when you transport this Eitarnes thing that all access to the castle is completely blocked from it. It shouldn’t be a problem if you store it with the holo maps but we can’t be too careful anymore.”

 

“No worries,” Pidge cracked her knuckles as she went about getting the download started to transfer Eitarnes to their new cell, “I’ll have so many walls up around this thing that it will be lucky if it can move a toe out of place...well, if it has toes…”

 

It took a few minutes to be sure that everything was well in place before Pidge completed the final step to process the AI they had acquired into the extra storage slot that sat next door, sliding the small memory chip from the side computer on the gauntlet of her armor, looking over the tiny crystal as it seemed to pulse with an odd glow between her fingers.

 

“Allura, Coran, everything is set! I’m going to go download our guest into its new home,” Pidge sat her laptop aside before rising quickly from her chair, “The files from the lab are still being downloaded and categorized from my laptop into the central files located in the castle’s records. I’ve sent both of you a direct link to them so you can tell the others if anything interesting catches your eye. I’ll be right back!”

 

Coran and Allura both gave Pidge a nod as the paladin hurriedly made her way beyond the control room to another smaller room just off to the side. Upon entering she found it to be larger than the grid had initially pointed out, a small console sitting in the dead center of the room before what Pidge could only guess was the object which would illuminate the room with whatever map had been selected. She made her way over to the console and, after some searching, managed to locate the port that would allow her to insert the crystal which held their newest unknown guest from the ship.

 

_Let’s hope this works._

 

Pidge took a small breath, clenching tight to the mini crystal momentarily before her hand reached down, pushing the crystal into the required slot until it was safely snuggled into it, the console lighting up as the new information was added into its core. Taking a small step back, Pidge watched the console momentarily as the system slowly uploaded everything, her eyes looking up once a hum began to resonate through the room, the orb which hung in the center of the ceiling illuminating a bright cone of light which struck the ground so quick that Pidge almost expected it to make a sound when it finally touched the floor. A crackling sound began to resonate as more data was uploaded, the hairs on the back of Pidge’s neck slowly rising from the electricity that began to fill the room. Taking caution, Pidge took a few steps back away from the console as layer by layer the form of the AI briefly introduced to them as Eitarnes began to take shape before her within the confines of the artificial prison. Bit by bit, layer by layer Pidge watched Eitarnes take form until finally the twitching, sparking mass of computer data stood before her with its back to her.

 

Pidge’s hand rested upon her bayard as the hum of the machinery died down, leaving only the deafening silence (disturbed only now and again by a soft crackle from her earpiece) in the room. After what had occured in the lab below, she half expected the AI to go haywire again, to lash out at the walls holding it in or...something. Instead it stood still and silent, head tilting this way and that as it seemed to take in its new surroundings, fingers twitching ever so softly at its sides. The small movements reminded her of when Lance’s hands had done that after the accident, causing a small frown to spread across her features.

 

“Well then,” Pidge cleared her throat as her voice broke through the silence, “Seems like you’ve fully downloaded. I wouldn’t try anything, you’re sealed into that area tight…” she paused as there came no response.

 

Eitarnes continued to stand there, silent. It didn’t even attempt to look in Pidge’s direction when the other spoke, stilling even the movement of its fingers and head as the green paladin’s voice resonated through the once quiet room. Pidge took a breath momentarily. Maybe something had gone wrong in the download and the AI was frozen? It was a possibility, with the systems not fully restored there could have been a hiccup during the transfer process, even if this room’s systems were up and running there was always a spot for error. Hand gripping tighter onto her bayard Pidge began to take a step towards the containment field that was holding their guest, wanting to try and get a better look.

 

“... _D_ ... _on’t…_ ”

 

Pidge nearly jumped out of her skin. The crackle in her earpiece had _said_ something. Feeling herself tense, Pidge tapped on the earpiece a little. Surely she had been hearing things.   

 

“You are quite the intelligent little Gremlin, aren’t you?” the smooth tone of the AI regained Pidge’s attention, drawing her eyes back to the glowing creature before her.

 

“What did you call me?”

 

“...Gremlin…” Eitarnes purred out, “...That’s what _he_ called you, isn’t it?”

 

Pidge’s brow furrowed. That thing was talking about Lance!

 

“What would you know about that?” keeping her distance from the barrier, Pidge began to walk around it towards the other so that she could confront the AI face to face.

 

“Oh, I know many things,” Eitarnes crooned out, voice cracking here and there, the tone seeming to jump in places as if it couldn’t quite figure out the correct tone to speak in.

 

“That so?” Pidge rounded the barrier, sure that she had come face to face with Eitarnes, “Perhaps you would like to enlighten me with some of your knowledge-!”

 

She stopped in her tracks. Even though she had come around to its other side, Pidge found herself staring once again at Eitarnes’ backside yet again. Granted, the AI didn’t have much of a face from before, but it had eyes at least, of that she was sure; she remembered how they had flashed darkly at her down below, glaring so intently that she was certain that the AI was trying to burn through here right then and there. Maybe she was right and it hadn’t downloaded properly?

 

“And what knowledge would that be?” mouthless words formed from some part of the twitching, see through mass before her.

 

Pidge snorted, “Smart ass,” she grumbled.  

 

She moved again, continuing to walk around the barrier, trying to fixate where the eyes of the AI were hiding themselves. As she circled it, however, Pidge felt bumps rise along her skin as she realized there was no face to be found; only the body with its ghostlike form stood before her, Eitarnes’ fingers beginning to twitch again ever so slowly. To say it didn’t send chills down her spine would be a lie.

 

The faceless head tilted on its thin neck as Pidge passed around it one more time, giving the paladin the eerie feeling that she was being watched despite the thing’s lack of eyes upon her.

 

“You know something about all of this,” Pidge finally paused in her exploration, finding herself in the same spot that she had originally been standing on before, “About what these creatures are and what happened to Lance. Tell me.”

 

“That information is classified,” Eitarnes hummed out, fingers twitching slightly faster, “Access denied.”

 

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Pidge frowned, moving to the small control panel sitting before her.

 

Removing her hand from her bayard, Pidge pulled up the holoscreen and went to work, scanning over the data that had been transferred into the storage system along with Eitarnes. Most of the coding was badly scrambled, a mixture of (to Pidge’s surprise) Altean letters and symbols as well as human binary codes. Pidge’s brow furrowed as her eyes scanned over the information. The binary hadn’t been there before during her initial download of the information from the lab, so what was it doing here now? Curiosity (mixed with a rather generous amount of spite for the AI at this point in time) began to pull in a majority of her attention as she worked at trying to decode the information presented to her.

 

Pidge didn’t feel the hairs begin to rise again slightly on the back of her neck, nor hear the slight popping in the air from the rise of electricity in the room. She didn’t hear the quiet squeal of a side door as it was forcibly pushed open followed by the slow _tap tap tap_ of footsteps as something else entered the room. She was so intrigued in her work, so intent on figuring out the secrets that were being withheld that she didn’t see the dark, glowing eyes of Eitarnes as they slowly rolled out from the top of the AI’s skull, glaring intensely at the human before it as sparks began to form from its fingertips. Eitarnes’ hands began to rise carefully, reaching out towards the barrier of its prison slowly, a deep purr emitting from it as soft entrails of energy flickered against its fingertips, beginning to build up a charge. The _tap tap taps_ from behind Pidge grew quicker, heavier, louder. A loud crackle in her earpiece caused Pidge’s typing fingers to pause, hazel eyes lifted meeting those dark eyes before her….

 

Thunder roared loudly above the Castle from the storm outside, engulfing Pidge’s scream from within.  

  


* * *

 

Shiro stopped short as a hissing crackle ran through their comms during a loud crash of thunder from above, swearing up and down that he had heard someone whispering to him in the haze. He, Hunk and Keith had been patrolling the floor just below the command center when the abrupt sound had caused them all to slow in their steps, trying to discern whether or not the noise that had come through was mere static or their companions one floor above trying to contact them.

 

“I’m not crazy. You two heard that too, right?” the black paladin glanced back to the others as they all came to a stop in the hallway.

 

Keith nodded, “I heard it in my comm too, Shiro. I couldn’t tell if it was a voice though or just more static from that damn storm outside.”

 

“I heard it in mine too. Sounded like a voice to me but I couldn’t really tell,” Hunke shook his head as a shiver ran through his body, “Why does everything need to be so creepy? Can’t we just have nice, clear comms to talk on instead of ones that sound like they’re possessed?”

 

“I’m sure everything is ok,” Shiro assured the yellow paladin. At least he hoped everything was ok, “Coran, Allura, Pidge-” he turned his attention to contacting the others. It was time to check in anyhow, “Do you three copy? Over.”

 

“Clear as a bell, number one,” Coran’s chipper tone rang through the comms clear as a bell.

 

“You’re coming through just fine, Shiro,” came the addition of Allura’s voice, “Do you have anything new to report?”

 

“Negative,” Shiro took a breath, “Did you two experience any static or anything through the comms just a little while ago?”

 

“And where’s Pidge?” Hunk inquired, “We haven’t really heard from her since we got off the elevator.”

 

“Number five was with us-” Coran began.

 

“Was?” Keith’s voice jumped onto the line.

 

“-yes, _was_ -” Coran continued, “She’s fine no worries. She’s in the room just next to us working on that Eitarnes fellow as we speak. She’s trying to see if it knows anything about what’s been going on around here lately.”

 

“She has been awful quiet though…” Allura’s voice began to show concern, “Even for Pidge. I know she can get quiet when focused…” a sigh was heard over the comms as Allura calmed herself, “We will check in with her shortly.”

 

“See that you do, please,” Shiro gave a nod as they began to move once more, making their way down the halls towards their next destination to search, “Do we have any updates that we should know about?”

 

“Negative, number one,” Coran’s chipper tone dipped a little. Even the advisor’s positive attitude was beginning to dwindle the longer their blue paladin remained missing, “I’ve checked every working camera on this ship, visual and thermal, they’ve all gone dead-er-quiet.”

 

Hunk frowned deeply at the corrected word, “They couldn’t have just vanished. They have to be around here somewhere.”

 

“Wherever they are, they must have quite the hiding spot,” Coran sounded more inquisitive now, no doubt flipping through the monitors once more as they spoke, “Seems odd that they would be so still now after being so active before.”

 

“They have what they wanted,” Keith stated what they were all thinking, “They have Lance. Why chance at moving him around if they want to keep him?”

 

“We’ll find him,” Shiro looked back at Keith reassuringly over his shoulder.

 

Keith nodded, though he could tell by the look in their leader’s eyes that Shiro had said that to comfort himself as well. There was a moment of silence as they continued to trek down the hallway, looking and listening for any sign of their missing companion or the giant metal creatures that had whisked them away. Since returning from the lab far down within the Castle’s inner belly things had been eerily calm and quiet throughout the ship and amongst the remaining members of the paladins. The silence held them all on edge, any small creak or bump causing them to turn back to back in their tracks in case something were to come pouncing at them from the shadows. It was enough to drive a person crazy with paranoia.

 

“Princess,” Hunk decided to cut through the silence to better his own nerves, “Was Pidge able to find any useful data about these things yet? I know you said she was busy working on the AI, but any bit of information could help.”

 

“Let me pull up what Pidge has downloaded so far,” Allura replied, tone indicating that she was as grateful to hear Hunk’s voice through the thickening quiet as he was hers, “Hmm..well, there isn’t too much yet; just some dates and….”

 

Keith was still listening to the comms as Allura continued to talk, going through the miniscule amount of information that Pidge had managed to download and decode from the lab’s systems thus far. Hunk mumbled something about a decryption key followed by some other high tech babble that he had never been able to fully understand (Punk Chatter the team called it), mind drifting away just enough to continue watching his surroundings. He was focused enough on the words that if anything of importance (that wasn’t coded in Punk speak) came about, he would be alert and ready to listen in, but they were approaching a crossroads in the castle’s winding halls and, lit or not, those could easily be a fair spot for an ambush. Shiro and Hunk noticed this as well, their steps slowing as they grew closer to the crossing paths before them, the chattering in the comms quieting as they approached. While the hallway that headed straight before them remained well lit, the two that branched off from the sides seemed to still be rebooting when it came to the lights.

 

Barely lit, only one or two fixtures illuminated the large halls allowing the paladins just enough light to see down the main part of the corridors, yet leave them with dread as to what may or may not have been lurking in the tall shadows left behind in the doorways of the unlit areas. Shiro took a slow, deep breath as they fully stopped at the edge of the conjoining hallways, holding up his hand for Keith and Hunk to pause as well, but to stay close. Allura had advised them that Coran had managed to locate their whereabouts on the Castle’s cameras, assuring them that (from what they could tell through scanners and visuals) they were in the clear to cross without fear of being attacked. There was something in the air that caused goosebumps rise along their skin beneath their armor as they stood there, the feeling of unwanted eyes staring at them from somewhere within the depths of those shadows one that none of them were able to shake.  

 

“I’ll check the left hall,” Shiro gave the order, flipping on the shoulder lights from his armor, “Keith, you take the right. Hunk, stay in the center and watch ahead. If anyone comes across anything call out. Understood?”

 

“Got it,” Keith turned on his lights as well, followed in tune with Hunk.

 

“I’ve got your backs,” always the cautious one, Hunk lifted his bayard as it formed his cannon, knowing that he could easily blast back anything the dared to come after them down the halls. Even if it was too far away for the blast to initially hit, he could at least create a diversion if need be.

 

With glowing hand and sword ready, Shiro and Keith departed their separate ways, leaving Hunk to stand on his own in the crossway of the halls. Keith took one final glance behind him at his friends, out of habit, insuring that they were all right thus far. He saw Shiro’s vanish back into the shadows of the other hallway, only the lights from his armor and dark glow of his hand remaining visible. Hunk stood at attention at an angle where he would be able to see both sides, giving Keith a quick thumbs up when he saw the other glancing to him. Keith returned the thumbs up with a nod before turning back to his own dark surroundings, keeping his eyes and ears ready for anything that may have been out of place.

 

Moments passed slowly as he made his way down the hall, the soft thuds of his armored boots echoing quietly off the high walls that surrounded him. So far, everything seemed to be normal (or as normal as they could be considering the current circumstances). Keith could hear the low hum of the lights high above him as they attempted to reboot themselves from the prior shock to the castle’s systems as well as the muted thunder and wind from the ever raging storm surrounding them from outside. For a moment Keith pondered about turning around and rejoining his fellow paladins, not wanting to linger too far away when alone in case those things that had crawled from the ship’s belly decided to attack again. He knew he could easily stand his ground if that happened, what he didn’t know was for how long.

 

After a bit more inner contemplation, Keith deemed the hallway to be clear and began to turn, heading back towards the more well lit area of the outer hall where Hunk awaited. The yellow paladin held up a hand in question as to whether or not everything was ok, and Keith held up his own free hand with a nod. Keith had only managed to take a few steps back towards the other though when the sound hit his ears, echoing through the silent hall.

 

_Sssssfffft….!!_

 

Keith froze. He recognized that sound, soft as it may be; a door not too far away from where he stood had slid open on its own, the pad to activate it untouched from the outside. Taking a small breath, Keith turned slowly on his heels, eyes instantly falling on the pool of light slicing through the darkness of the hallway onto the floor behind him, taking a quick step backwards when they noticed the shadowed silhouette that lied nestled in the center of the light. Tall and lanky, the shadow was unmoving from within the room. Keith felt a cool trickle of sweat run down the side of his face beneath his helmet as he looked up from the floor to the doorway where the light had emitted from.

 

He half expected the form to move, to step out into the hallway at any moment and charge full on in his direction. In fact Keith was waiting for that to happen, _wanting_ the form to move instead of just having it stand there, silent and gawking like so many shadows that currently filled the ship’s corridors. There was a slight crackling in his comms, a gentle buzzing beginning to hum one one side while he swore he heard breathing on the other. The light within the room before him began to flicker slowly, then quicker...faster….

 

_“...find me…”_

 

As soon as it had illuminated the light died out, leaving Keith in the dark once again, heart racing in his chest. That voice...it had been…

 

Suddenly his helmet felt too heavy, too cramped to breath (despite the fact that his face mask was completely up). Managing to remove it with one hand, Keith took a deep breath of air as he held firmly onto his helmet, eyes never once leaving where the light and shadow had been. Cold sweat prickled his forehead near the hairline, an even colder chill making it’s home down his backside.

 

“Keith?” Hunk’s voice echoed down the hall towards him, concern thick in the other’s gentle tone, “Keith buddy! What is it?”

 

The last few words seemed closer. No wonder. He heard the quick footsteps of his comrades coming up behind him, the sounds oddly putting him at ease for a moment and allowing his heartbeat to calm. Taking a final deep breath, Keith put his helmet back on, turning to face his two friends as they arrived to his location in the hallway.

 

“Keith we tried to reach you through the comms but we just got static,” Shiro’s hands were on Keith’s shoulders now, providing a reassuring squeeze as the paladin leader looked over the other, “Hunk said he saw a light down here and saw you standing unmoving. What happened?”

 

“Did you guys hear that?” Keith asked them, “In the comms. Through the static. Did you hear that voice?”

 

“Voice?” Shiro shook his head, letting go of Keith once he was sure no harm had befallen him, “I didn’t hear any voice. Just static. Hunk?”

 

“Nada,” Hunk shook his head as well, “Was it one of the others?”

 

Keith shook his head, “I was coming back...and a door opened. That one,” he pointed with his sword towards the still open, now darkened door, “There was a light inside, and a shadow of something. Then I heard him.”

 

“Who?” Shiro questioned.

 

“Lance.”

  


* * *

  


The walk to the doorway should have been a quick one, after all, it only lied a few feet away from where the small group had stood. Of course, that would have been under normal circumstances, and anyone currently living in the Castle at this point in time would easily agree that the past few hours within their home had been anything but ‘normal’. With Keith revealing whose voice he had heard (or thought he had heard), it made things a little more complicated than just trotting on over to the open door to pop their heads inside for a quick look. The voice which had whispered those begging words into the red paladin’s ears meant that walking into that room was one of two things: either a trap set for them by the creatures that had taken their blue paladin, or by some rare luck said blue paladin had escaped and had actually called out for help.

 

With how things had been going, a trap seemed to be more likely.

 

Ever cautious, the three paladins had let their friends above them in the control room know what was going on, trying to gain any insight as to what that room was or if there were any working cameras within its walls that could give them a better idea as to whether or not they would be alone when venturing inside. To their slight dismay, no cameras were functional within that area, the screens (as told by a rather annoyed Coran) jerking and black with no sight within whatsoever. If they went in, they went in blind. Either way, all three of them had decided that they were going to go in. Bayards and Galra hand at the ready, they made their way carefully down the darkened hall and to the doorway, finding the main entrance clear of any signs that there had been someone standing there only moments before.

 

“Allura, what did you say this room was again?” Shiro’s voice was quiet as they fully entered, the purple glow of his hand skimming along the wall in search of any sort of switch or button for the lights.

 

“The Gladiator room,” Coran’s voice spoke in all three of their ears, “Allura went to check on Pidge. This place is right below the training deck. This would be the place that the sparring Gladiators are sent once they are done for repairs and the likes. Haven’t been there in awhile myself, not since most of the repairs became automated.”

 

“Wonderful. More robots,” Hunk grimaced, “At least we know these things won’t come after us.”

 

“Hopefully,” Keith added.

 

“Keeeeith….”

 

“Keep your eyes open you two,” Shiro sighed and shook his head, “I think I found the lights.”

 

There was a small hum once Shiro’s hand pressed against the pad on the wall, followed by a loud click! as the lights turned on around them. Shiro yelped and jumped back at the illumination, not quite ready for the limp pile of exoskeleton had that been standing before him. The leader of the paladins caught his breath as he took a step back, glancing over his shoulder to Keith.

 

“I think this is the same one from before,” Shiro recalled.

 

“Still not any less creepy,” Keith frowned, taking a look around the room now that they had some light.

 

One would have expected the room where all of the ship’s sparring Gladiators were being stored to be a little larger. As it was, however, the room itself was rather cramped. Gladiators in every stage of being fixed lined the walls all around them with minimal space in between them. The ones that were ready to go were in the center of the room on small platforms, standing at attention in their slumbering state as they awaited to be called above to perform their duties. In any other circumstance it would have been absolutely fascinating to be here, though as it stood now with their current situation, Hunk made a mental note to never set foot in here again.

 

“All right guys,” Shiro straightened himself up from his minor scare, “Fan out but stay close. If there was something in here it couldn’t have gotten very far. There aren’t any vents and the only way in or out is right there through that door.”

 

“I’ll cover the exit,” Hunk hefted up his canon, ever at the ready, “Anything wants out they will have to get bby me.”

 

“I’ll check over there near the platforms. See if something didn’t try to claw its way out through there,” Keith added.

 

“Do you have to say it like that? Claw its way out?” Hunk shivered as he made his way back towards the door.

 

Keith couldn’t help but grin just a little, “Sorry, Hunk.”

 

Nodding to Shiro who was rounding his way to a father corner of the room, Keith cautiously made his way to the very center of the room towards the Gladiators awaiting on their platforms. As he neared, Keith took a moment to look over each one carefully. It was rare to be able to just look at the Gladiators. Normally they would be moving so quickly and swiftly during training sessions that the only time Keith ever had a moment to truly look at them would be after he had struck one down, watching as it hit the floor and vanished. Each one seemed to be in pristine condition as it stood there, their armor a snowy white and freshly polished, seeming to shine even now in the dim light of the room. No scuffs, no dents. Keith had to hand it to the Alteans, they certainly did know how to maintain their machinery.

 

Keith made sure to check each Gladiator as he neared it, making sure that nothing was attempting to hide behind the standing wall of machines. One by one he passed them, each a perfect copy of the others. It wasn’t until he was almost four Gladiators in that he paused. Something...wasn’t right…

 

The other Gladiators had all been pristine, not a speck of dirt lying on their armored frames. This one, however, was imperfect. Slightly shorter than the others, it stood with its head bowed instead of looking straight ahead like the others. The armor was less shiny, a faded white rather than the pure snow color of the others. Small dents covered the armor in places, the wear and tear of time lying heavily upon the armor’s shoulders. Keith slowed his steps as he neared it, swearing up and down that part of him had seen (or even felt) this armor move at some point.

 

“Hey guys?” Keith called out, taking one more step closer, “Come over here! There’s something off about this one…”

 

No sooner had Keith’s foot taken that step, then the head of the Gladiator snapped upwards. Unlike the others there was no glowing orb in its center, but in its place were one ocean blue eyes, now covered in a glowing white sheen, staring directly into Keith’s own. Before he had time to react, hands reach out, grabbing Keith by the wrist mercilessly twisting it behind the paladin’s  back side as he turned him, the other hand grasping just as tight onto Keith’s other hand and pull it up quickly to press the blade of Keith’s own sword at his throat.

 

Everything had happened so quickly that the red paladin hadn’t thought to react, kicking himself mentally now for being caught off guard as he felt that sword press in tighter to his throat. Below him he felt the vibrations as the platform began to activate.

 

“KEITH!!”

 

He barely heard Hunk cry out, saw the flashes of yellow and black as the others rushed towards him, before the room above opened, and the red paladin was gone.


End file.
